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IMF, Seychelles reach $100m staff-level agreement on Extended Fund Facility

Published

2 months ago

March 29, 2023

International lender, IMF has revealed that it has reached a staff-level agreement with Seychelles on programmes that amount to over $100 million.

The agreement means Seychelles will have access to about $56.96 million under an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement and about $46.19 million under the Resilience Sustainability Fund (RSF) program.

According to a statement by the IMF, the agreement bothers on a successor 36-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and a new Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) program to support Seychelles’ economic policies and reforms. Seychelles is the second African country to reach a staff-level agreement to access the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST).

The agreement–which is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board– Seychelles will have access to SDR 42.36 million (about USD 56.96 million) under the EFF and SDR 34.35 million (about USD 46.19 million) under the RSF.

Under the current EFF, economic recovery, fiscal consolidation, and debt reduction continued in 2022, resulting in public debt dropping to 69.9 percent of GDP at year-end (20 percentage points lower than in 2021).

In addition to supporting macroeconomic stability and structural reforms, the EFF and RSF will also minimize downside risks.

Seychelles has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Africa, at $13,306 (2021). It is highly dependent on tourism and fisheries, with climate change posing risks to the sustainability of its economy long term.

VenturesNow

Kenya: Parliament approves appointment of Kamau Thugge as central bank governor

Published

15 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Months after throwing open the position for the country’s top banker, Kenya’s parliament has approved the appointment of Kamau Thugge as the country’s central bank governor.

The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the
appointment of economist and senior civil servant who was nominated by President William Ruto as the next apex bank chief.

Thugge, who served as principal secretary in the finance ministry until mid-2018, was nominated after serving as one of the president’s senior economic advisers since late last year.

He shook off competition from others shortlisted candidates like Adan Mohamed, who served in the cabinet from 2013-2022, with four others also interviewed for the role.

The new central bank governor will be faced with the immediate pressure of stabilizing the country’s monetary policy as the East African giant currently faces a shortage of funds amidst rising public debt.

Despite the odds, the World Bank in a report earlier today expects growth to edge up to 5.0% in 2023, underpinned by a recovery in agriculture.

VenturesNow

Ghana presents ‘working proposal’ for debt restructuring— IMF sources

Published

15 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

West African country, Ghana has made a major move at resolving its debt crisis as the country has presented debt restructuring proposal to its creditors.

According to sources quoted by Reuters, a “working proposal” has been submitted to help the country escape its worst economic crisis in a generation.

One of the sources revealed that the proposal was a first attempt to engage the official creditor committee after its formation in May. It should be recalled that the Paris Club last month announced that official sector of creditors of Ghana had formed a committee co-chaired by China and France for debt restructuring talks.

The plan is to end restructuring of domestic debt before turning to negotiations with its official bilateral creditors and international bondholders, a government official said.

Ghana is one of several cash-strapped countries facing unprecedented delays in getting bailouts as China, its biggest bilateral creditor with about $1.7 billion of debt and Western economies disagree over how debt relief should be structured.

The first formal review of the programme will hold in the coming months as an IMF team will visit Ghana between 8th and 15th of June.