The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday completed the second review of Guinea’s economic performance under a programme supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF).
An IMF statement made available to PANA in New York said the completion of the review
enabled the disbursement of an amount equivalent to Special Drawing Right (SDR) of 18.36 million (about US$27.4 million).
“This brings total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 55.08 million (about US$82.1 million),” it said.
The fund also noted that in completing the review, the IMF Board approved Guinea’s request for a waiver for non-observance of the continuous performance criterion on new non-concessional external debt.
The statement disclosed that the Executive Board also approved a three-year ECF arrangement
with an amount equivalent to SDR 128.52 (about US$198.1 million) for Guinea on 24 February, 2012 to support the government’s economic programme.
It quoted Mr. Naoyuki Shinohara, IMF’s Deputy Managing Director and the Board’s Acting Chair,
as saying “Guinea’s macroeconomic performance under the ECF-supported programme
has been satisfactory.
“Growth has been strong, inflation is gradually declining, and international reserves are at a
comfortable level.
“Guinea has also benefitted from a substantial reduction in its external debt stock after reaching
the completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries’ Initiative (HIPC Iniaitiative) in
September 2012.”
He, however, said continued strong commitment to programme policies and structural
reforms would be necessary to consolidate macroeconomic stability, maintain debt sustainability and foster sustainable and inclusive growth.
“The authorities’ fiscal and monetary policies for 2013 remain appropriately geared toward reducing inflation.
“Efforts to strengthen revenue collections and rationalise expenditure, together with additional
external assistance, facilitated the maintenance of a high level of domestically-financed
investment spending in the 2013 budget despite dwindling resources from the 2011 exceptional
mining revenue,” the IMF official said.
Mr. Shinohara also noted that the government has taken steps to contain subsidies,
including in the electricity sector.
”Going forward, it will be important to introduce a timely automatic adjustment mechanism while providing targeted assistance to the poor. It will also be important to maintain an adequate level of international reserves,” he added.