IMF Mission Reaches Preliminary Agreement on ECF1 Arrangement for Guinea-Bissau

Published: 29 January 2010 y., Friday

Eurai ir doleriai
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Paulo Drummond visited Bissau during January 12-27, 2010, to discuss the government’s medium-term economic program that could be supported by the IMF under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The mission met with President Bacai Sanha, Prime Minister Carlos Domingos Gomes, the Minister of Finance, Jose Mario Vaz, other ministers, the Director of the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, Joao Fadia, as well as representatives of the private sector, civil society, and the donor community.

At the conclusion of the visit, the mission issued the following statement:

“Despite the difficult external environment and a challenging political context, Guinea-Bissau made some progress in stabilizing its economy in 2009. Economic growth reached about 3 percent, driven by a favorable cashew harvest and a pick-up in construction activity; inflation slowed down, thanks to lower food and fuel prices, and budgetary stability was regained. Progress on structural reforms accelerated towards the end of last year, with government approval of an action plan for public financial management and enactment of the new investment code.

”With the objective of consolidating these gains and providing the basis for stronger economic growth and poverty alleviation, the government has defined a medium-term macroeconomic and structural reform program for 2010-2012, for which it is seeking support from the IMF under the ECF. The program focuses on strengthening public finances, by containing the domestic primary budget deficit below 4 percent of GDP per year through 2012, modernizing the public administration, and raising the quality of public services. It also seeks to promote job creation by removing impediments to private sector development and strengthen the provision of financial services.

“The mission was encouraged by progress in preparing public financial management reforms, and by the determination of the government to start moving the reform strategies for the civil service and the military and security sectors into concrete plans of action. The mission reached preliminary agreement with the government on the policies and targets to be monitored under the program, and emphasized that decisive implementation of the reforms will be critical to their success.

”The IMF Executive Board could consider the authorities’ request for an ECF by end-March 2010.“

The ECF is a concessional IMF facility for low-income countries. ECF-supported programs are based on country-owned poverty reduction strategies adopted in a participatory process involving civil society and development partners and articulated in the country's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. ECF loans carry a zero interest rate until end-2011 and an annual interest rate [of no more than 0.5 percent] thereafter, and are repayable over 10 years with a 5½ -year grace period on principal payments.


Šaltinis: www.imf.org
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Commission recommends to open excessive deficit procedures for Cyprus, Denmark and Finland

The European Commission today concluded on the existence of excessive deficits in Cyprus, Denmark and Finland and recommended deadlines for their correction to the Council. more »

Globalisation fund: Parliament backs aid to Ireland and Spain

Over 2000 former construction workers in Spain and nearly 600 ex-employees of Irish glass company Waterford Crystal and its suppliers will receive a total of €11 million in aid from the EU Globalisation Adjustment Fund to help with training, business start-ups and job guidance under plans agreed by MEPs and the Council of Ministers. more »

Budget 2011 negotiations coming closer - MEPs decide on tactics

MEPs on Tuesday decided six top priorities and a number of additional key issues for the upcoming negotiations on the 2011 budget. more »

EU-China research cooperation in the spotlight at World Expo Shanghai

The EU-China Science and Technology Week starts today at the heart of World Expo Shanghai. more »

European Investment Bank and European Commission to explore EU climate finance initiative

European Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard and European Investment Bank President Philippe Maystadt agreed on Monday to explore a joint climate finance initiative for developing countries as part of the European Union commitment made at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen last December. more »

Interconnected energy grid - a first step towards an EU energy community

Sustainability, competitiveness and security of energy supply: the three pillars to the foundation of a new EU energy community. more »

European Commission set to help Palestinian economy with full opening of EU market

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Palestinian Minister of National Economy Hasan Abu-Libdeh today discussed measures to enhance EU-Palestinian bilateral trade relations and to facilitate trade of Palestinian products to EU markets. more »

Affordable hybrid cars, bus systems that get people out of cars, “intelligent” cargo and much more: Brussels showcase for smarter and greener transport innovation

Some of the most innovative and exciting transport research projects funded by the EU are being showcased at the Transport Research Arena (TRA) in Brussels this week. more »

Galileo: European alternative to GPS needs more funding

Nowadays we rely heavily on satellite positioning and navigation, but the only available technology is American. more »

Conference to present the future of transport networks in Europe

The European Commission will reveal how it aims to revamp its transport networks policy in response to the challenges of the 21st century at a conference dedicated to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in Zaragoza on 8 and 9 June. more »