Suriname Receives US$53 Million from IMF Under Extended Fund Facility

Washington – Suriname will receive US$53 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the executive board of the Washington-based financial institution Friday completed the fourth review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement for Suriname.

It said that the completion of the review allows the authorities in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to draw the equivalent of SDR 39.4 million bringing total purchase under the EFF arrangement to SDR 197 million or an estimated US$263 million.

In completing the review, the IMF executive board also approved Suriname’s request for an augmentation of access equivalent to SDR 46.8 million or US$ 63 million and an extension of the EFF arrangement to end-March 2025.

“With this augmentation, the total access expected under the EFF arrangement is SDR 430.7 million or about US$ 577 million,” the IMF said.

It said Suriname is implementing an ambitious economic reform agenda aimed at restoring fiscal and debt sustainability through fiscal consolidation and debt restructuring, protecting the vulnerable by expanding social protection, upgrading the monetary and exchange rate policy framework, addressing the financial sector’s vulnerabilities, and advancing the anti-corruption and governance agenda.

These policies are supported by the EFF arrangement, which was approved by the executive board on December 22, 2021.

IMF deputy managing director, Kenji Okamura, said Suriname authorities’ have shown continued commitment to fiscal discipline and macroeconomic stabilization under the EFF-supported program.

He said the economy is stabilising, pressures on the exchange rate have eased, and inflation is on a downward trend. (CMC)