| IMF
Approves US$ 10.9 million Disbursement for Burundi The
Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the first review
of
Burundi's programme under Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and
approved
the disbursement of a new tranche of US$ 10.9 million, according to
an IMF announcement
on January 19th, 2005. The
new tranche brings the total disbursements under this facility to US$ 51.1 million
out of a
global assistance budget of 105.6 million released in January 2004,
with the Burundian
Government's commitment to undertake deep economic reforms
on a 3-year period through
January 2007. In
completing the first review, the Executive Board granted Burundi's request for
waivers of
nonobservance of performance criterion pertaining to external payments
arrears, the
establishment of a new Auditing Court and the adoption of weekly
liquidation auctions. At
the end of the Executive Board's discussion, and according to Mr. Augustin Carstens,
Deputy
Managing Director, the observation was that Burundi has made a good start in
implementing
the PRGF-supported programme despite a difficult environment;
encouragingly,
the demobilization process has begun, the security situation has improved and
the macroeconomic reforms are broadly on good track. Mr.
Augustin Carstens went on saying that it had been concluded, on the basis of a
preliminary Burundi's external debt analysis, jointly undertaken by World Bank
and IMF,
that the external debt burden had become unsustainable for the country,
giving way to the
possibility that Burundi would thoroughly benefit from the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
(HIPC) Initiative by mid-2005. Jointly
implemented by World Bank and IMF in 1996, the programme aims at reducing the
world
countries heavy debt, provided they follow agreed reforms programme with the two
institutions
of Bretton Woods. It
should be noted that PRGF loans carry an annual interest rate of 0.5 percent and
are
repayable over 10 years with a 5 ½ -year grace period on principal
payments.
IBB-Infos
/ 24 January 2005
Back
to IBB-Infos  Top | 
