DAKAR-The International Monetary Fund [IMF] days ago approved the Senegalese authorities’ request for an extension until January 10, 2023, of the country’s Stand-By Arrangement [SBA] and Arrangement Under the Standby Credit Facility [SCF] to allow additional time to complete the last SBA/SCF reviews concurrently with the last review under Senegal’s Policy Coordination Instrument [PCI]. Completion of the reviews will enable the Senegalese authorities to have access to funds available under the SBA/SCF.
The 18-month SBA/SCF for Senegal was approved on June 7, 2021, with access of SDR 453 million [140 percent of quota]; it was followed by an augmentation of access of SDR 129.44mln (40 percent of quota), approved on June 22, 2022. The three-year PCI was approved on January 10, 2020.
“Completion of the reviews will enable the Senegalese authorities to have access to funds available under the SBA/SCF,” the Fund said in a press release.
The extension was granted one day before an IMF staff mission to Senegal concluded that the West African country had made “significant progress” in implementing structural reforms despite these being slower than anticipated.
Mexico
Meanwhile, IMF has concluded that Mexico still meets the eligibility criteria for a flexible credit line, the country’s central bank said on Thursday.
Mexico’s Foreign Exchange Commission decided to maintain access equivalent to around $47 billion, approved in 2021, the central bank’s statement said.
The credit line has been shrinking over the years. Central bank records show that the IMF gave the green light for about US$ 61 billion in 2019 and US$ 88bln in 2017.
“The Mexican economy remains exposed to external risks,” the IMF said in a separate statement. “The global surge in inflation has touched off a round of monetary tightening and rising global risk aversion and threatened growth,” it added.
Mexico has never used the flexible credit line with the IMF, which is seen as an additional shield for the region’s second-largest economy in the face of volatility in global markets.
https://thecooperator.news/dr-congos-growth-among-highest-in-region-amid-significant-challenges-imf/
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