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Burundi: IMF predicts 4.3% economic growth against 2023’s 2.7%

Published

10 months ago

January 23, 2024

Burundi’s GDP is expected to grow by 4.3% this year from 2.7% in 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This growth is largely due to increased performance in the agriculture sector.

Burundi’s economy, which has a population of 12 million, is primarily dependent on agricultural income, particularly from tea and coffee.

“Growth is projected to accelerate… supported by strong agricultural production, productive investment, and the ongoing reforms,” the fund said in a statement late on Tuesday.

According to the fund, Burundi’s 2023 economic activity was hindered by fuel shortages. After years of violence and political unrest under former leader Pierre Nkurunziza, which left important sectors abandoned, Burundi’s economy is only now beginning to revive.

It has a hard cash shortage following political turmoil in 2015 that forced donors to halt help. The United States promised assistance, while the European Union agreed to resume financial help in 2022.

Burundi’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of the previous year were $96.4 million, or 0.8 months’ worth of import cover, according to the IMF.

Remittance inflows, gold exports, and IMF funding disbursements provided some respite, the fund reported.

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

1 hour ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.