International Monetary Fund - The African Mirror

Jun

2023

Nigeria’s new foreign exchange policy is good news – but it can’t work wonders for the economy on its own

THE Central Bank of Nigeria recently announced changes to the way the country’s foreign exchange market will work. Foreign currencies can now be bought and sold at rates determined by the market – not by the central bank. This signals the intention of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to allow market forces to determine the value of the naira. STEPHEN ONYEIWU, Professor of Economics & Business, Allegheny College In the past, there were multiple exchange rates for the currency. The International Monetary Fund has repeatedly called on Nigeria to end this. The huge gap between the official and unofficial rates…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

World Bank and IMF are Western tools with doomed future

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, stated the obvious at a California conference when she lamented the gradual decline of the US dollar in global trade. Addressing the 2023 Milken Institute Global Conference in the US this week, she said: “There has been a gradual shift away from the Dollar, it was 70% of (world) reserves, now it is slightly under 60% .” ABBEY MAKOE Well, the writing has been on the wall for a long while. The US dollar is certainly losing its once unassailable dominance as a kind of an omnipotent world’s main…

Feb

2023

By YOUSEF SABA and GHAIDA GHANTOUS

Public debt in Middle East and North Africa a ‘concern,’ fiscal action needed, IMF says

BUSINESS

THE head of the International Monetary Fund said that public debt in some Middle East and North Africa (MENA) states is of "concern" and that governments need to build resilience through fiscal policies to protect against shocks in uncertain times. Kristalina Georgieva, speaking at the Arab Fiscal Forum in Dubai, urged authorities to adopt "robust" fiscal frameworks and address climate change. The IMF forecast last month that economic growth in MENA would slow to 3.2% this year, before ticking up to 3.5% in 2024. Inflation was seen to surpass 10% in 2023, according to a full copy of Georgieva's speech published by…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

IMF sees Rwanda growth at 6.2% in 2023, 7.5% in 2024

BUSINESS

THE International Monetary Fund projects that Rwanda's economy will grow by 6.2% this year, accelerating to 7.5% next year, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said during a visit to Kigali on Thursday. "We are projecting Rwanda to grow by 6.2% in 2023 and for the growth to accelerate in 2024 to 7.5%. We need to recognise that Rwanda like the rest of the world has been affected by COVID-19 and war in Ukraine that has taken away 1.7% from our pre-COVID projections," she told reporters. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

Analysis: Poor nations face peril over elusive G-20 debt relief push

BUSINESS

KARIN STROHECKER and ANDREA SHALAL A failure to secure meaningful progress on debt relief for the world's poorest nations at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meeting in Washington has left policymakers, campaigners and investors frustrated. Two years ago the Group of 20 launched the Common Framework - a mechanism designed to provide a swift and comprehensive debt overhaul to nations buckling under debt burdens after the COVID-19 shock that would reach beyond temporary debt payment moratoriums. But results have proven elusive, hampered by a combination of a lack of progress in bringing key creditors around the table…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Senegal’s economy to rebound to 5% growth in 2021, says IMF

BUSINESS

Senegal's economy will grow 5% in 2021 thanks in part to solid industrial output, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, revising up a previous forecast of 3.5% growth for this year. The Fund said it had reached a staff-level agreement with the West African nation that could pave the way for the disbursement of around a further $180 million under an existing loan deal. Senegal is seeking to recover from the economic shock of the pandemic, which caused its real GDP growth to slow to 1.5% in 2020 from 4.4% a year earlier. "Senegal's economic rebound through September 2021…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE: Afghan central bank drained dollar stockpile before Kabul fell

WORLD

JOHN O’DONNEL and RUPAM JAIN The Afghan central bank ran down most of its U.S. dollar cash reserves in the weeks before the Taliban took control of the country, according to an assessment prepared for Afghanistan's international donors, exacerbating the current economic crisis. The confidential, two-page brief, written early this month by senior international economic officials for institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said the country's severe cash shortage began before the Taliban took control of Kabul. It criticised how the central bank's former leadership handled the crisis in the months before the Taliban's conquest, including decisions…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Why corporate reforms falter: some insights from Kenya

BUSINESS

SOCIOECONOMIC development in African countries, along with other developing countries, is held back by many constraints. These include an insufficiently skilled workforce, poor infrastructure, and inadequate capital to finance public goods and services. This is also true for some African countries with abundant natural resources. DANSON KIMANI, Lecturer in Accounting; CAGD coordinator at The Centre for Accountability and Global Development (CAGD), University of Essex For decades, an array of structural reforms have been put forward to steer developing countries towards growth. Some have been economic, others political, or focused on the public sector. Most are concocted in western countries and…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

IMF says closely monitoring situation in Guinea after coup

BUSINESS

THE International Monetary Fund said it is closely monitoring the situation in Guinea after a military coup that ousted President Alpha Conde on September 5, and urged a peaceful resolution. IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said the global lender had completed fifth and sixth reviews of its programs there in December and provided assistance to help the West African country to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. "Events are unfolding there. We're closely monitoring it, and urging a peaceful resolution as soon as possible," Rice told a regular IMF briefing.

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

IMF approves $567 mln in emergency support for Tanzania

BUSINESS

ANDREA SHALAL THE International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved $567 million in emergency support for Tanzania to help it finance a COVID-19 vaccination campaign and meet the health and social costs of the pandemic, the IMF said in a statement. The IMF board approved a disbursement of $189 million to Tanzania under its Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), as well as $378 million under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), the global lender said. The COVID-19 outbreak and associated travel restrictions have led to the collapse of the tourism sector in the East African country, which had denied the existence of…