{"id":692,"date":"2020-12-11T21:38:20","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T21:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/sierra-leone\/?p=692"},"modified":"2020-12-11T21:38:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T21:38:20","slug":"imf-approves-49-million-disbursement-for-guinea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/imf-approves-49-million-disbursement-for-guinea","title":{"rendered":"IMF approves $49 Million disbursement for Guinea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Sierra-Leone<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yesterday said it has completed the Fifth and Sixth reviews of Guinea\u2019s economic performance under the program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF).<\/p>\n

Completion of these last two reviews of the ECF-supported program enables the immediate disbursement of the equivalent of SDR 34.43 million (about US$49.47 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to the equivalent of SDR 120.49 million (about US$166.60 million).<\/p>\n

Guinea\u2019s three-year ECF arrangement was approved by the Executive Board of the IMF on December 11, 2017 (see Press Release No. 17\/484) for the equivalent of SDR 120.49 million (56.25 percent of Guinea\u2019s quota). The ECF arrangement aims at strengthening resilience, scaling-up public investment in infrastructure while preserving stability, strengthening social safety nets, and promoting private sector development.<\/p>\n

While performance under the Fund-supported program remains broadly satisfactory, Guinea faces significant downside risks related to COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Following the Executive Board\u2019s discussions on Guinea, Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Acting Chair and Deputy Managing Director, issued the following statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cGuinea\u2019s performance under the ECF-supported program against end-December 2019 was satisfactory, with all but one end-December performance criteria (PC) met; the PC on the basic fiscal balance was narrowly missed reflecting higher-than-expected recurrent expenditures.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerformance at end-June 2020 reflects the impact and the authorities\u2019 appropriate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with two PCs missed\u2014on net domestic assets and net government borrowing from the central bank\u2013as the authorities resorted to central bank financing to promptly respond to the health crisis ahead of expected COVID-19 related external disbursements. The authorities have thereafter taken corrective action and the Executive Board approved the authorities\u2019 requests for waivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough overall growth has been buttressed by a buoyant mining sector, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the non-mining economy. Real growth is projected to reach 5.2 percent this year, but non-mining activity is only expected to grow by 2.4 percent, about half of the pre-pandemic projection. The improved mining production has not translated into higher fiscal revenue. The situation for the most vulnerable and households and informal sector workers has also worsened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2020 fiscal relaxation to support the authorities\u2019 COVID-19 response plan was adequate. The authorities made progress with their transparency commitments undertaken at the time of the RCF and are advised to continue implementing their budget transparently.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 2021 draft budget properly supports the post-pandemic recovery while ensuring debt sustainability. A return to the electricity tariff reform as the crisis subsides will be important to reduce untargeted electricity subsidies and create fiscal space for priority spending. In parallel, efforts to strengthen social safety nets should continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cRevenue mobilization remains critical over the medium term. The authorities are encouraged to step up implementation of their revenue mobilization strategy, agreed at the time of the Fourth ECF review. In particular, it is essential to apply the provisions of the mining code, to ensure Guinea can duly benefit from its mineral resource wealth.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuinea\u2019s debt remains sustainable, at moderate risk of external debt distress, on the basis of a rightly reduced and rephased ambitious but realistic investment plans over the medium term. Going forward, it is essential to maintain prudent external borrowing policies, maximizing recourse to concessional borrowing. Progress should also continue on enhancing public investment management, strengthening budget execution, and improving cash and debt management.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile turning to temporary central bank advances to swiftly pre-finance some COVID-19-related spending as the crisis unfolded was a short-term solution, the advances should be fully repaid once the external financing is disbursed to avoid inflationary pressures.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommendable progress has been made in enhancing foreign exchange flexibility. With foreign exchange reserves broadly adequate\u2014supported by the authorities\u2019 active accumulation during the ECF arrangement\u2014recent steps to enhance flexibility and introduce a rule-based foreign exchange intervention strategy to reduce discretion are welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cImprovements to the anti-corruption framework are an encouraging development and the authorities should continue to implement reforms. The recent publication of the asset declaration form is a welcome critical step to allow for the operationalization of the new system, expected to start in 2021, and increase transparency and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

In neighbouring Sierra Leone, there is growing uncertainty and increasing hardship as the economy continues to decline, following almost three years of inactivity in the country\u2019s iron ore mining sector.<\/p>\n

Since President Bio\u2019s election to office in 2018, Sierra Leone\u2019s currency \u2013 the Leone, has lost over 35% of its value against the US Dollar and British Pound Sterling, making prices in the shops and markets unaffordable for the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans.<\/p>\n

The government of Sierra Leone continues to ramp up public sector borrowing and its reliance on donor aid to run the country and invest in infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The IMF is yet to conduct its long-awaited review of Sierra Leone\u2019s economic performance under the program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yesterday said it has completed the Fifth and Sixth reviews of Guinea\u2019s economic performance under the program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF). Completion of these last two reviews of the ECF-supported program enables the immediate disbursement of the equivalent of SDR […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8],"tags":[291,292],"class_list":["post-692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\nIMF approves $49 Million disbursement for Guinea - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/imf-approves-49-million-disbursement-for-guinea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IMF approves $49 Million disbursement for Guinea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yesterday said it has completed the Fifth and Sixth reviews of Guinea\u2019s economic performance under the program supported by an Extended Credit Facility (ECF). 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