Ethiopia, IMF staff agree programme review that could unlock $260m
Ethiopia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement on the third review of the country's $3.4bn (R60.83bn) loan programme from the lender, the fund said on Friday.
Once approved by the IMF's executive board, Ethiopia will gain access to another $260m (R4.65bn) in financing.
"The [Ethiopian] authorities' policy actions in the first year of the programme have yielded strong results. The transition to a flexible exchange rate regime has proceeded with little disruption," the IMF statement said.
"Macroeconomic indicators have performed better than expected, with substantially better outcomes than forecast for inflation, goods exports and international reserves."
Reuters

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

TimesLIVE
2 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Egypt's net foreign assets retreat in April after March jump
Egypt's net foreign assets (NFAs) fell by $1.5bn (R26.71bn) in April, central bank data showed on Wednesday, retreating from March, when the approval of the fourth review of the country's International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme sparked a jump. NFAs slid to the equivalent of $13.54bn (R241.08bn), from $15.08bn (R268.50bn) at the end of March, according to Reuters calculations based on official central bank currency exchange rates. In March NFAs jumped by $4.9bn (R87.25bn) after the IMF approved the disbursement to Egypt of $1.2bn (R21.37bn) after completing its review of the country's $8bn (R142.44bn )economic reform programme. The IMF also approved a request for a $1.3bn (R23.15bn) arrangement under the IMF's resilience and sustainability facility. The approvals led to an inflow of foreign investment in Egyptian pound treasury bills, bankers said. Egypt had been using foreign assets, which include assets held by both the central bank and commercial banks, to help prop up its currency since as long ago as September 2021. Net foreign assets turned negative in February 2022 and only returned to positive territory in May last year. Foreign assets increased in April at both the central bank and commercial banks, while foreign liabilities fell at both as well.

TimesLIVE
3 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Libya's eastern-based parliament passes budget for development fund
Libya's eastern-based parliament voted on Tuesday to approve a budget for its development and reconstruction fund, a parliament spokesperson and member said, although it is unclear if the money will be forthcoming given the country's divisions. The budget of 69-billion Libyan dinar (R225bn) will be spread equally over three years, lawmaker Tarek Jroushi told Reuters, adding that the funds will be overseen by the parliament. Parliament spokesperson Abdullah Blheg earlier announced the approval of the budget in a post on X, without disclosing the budget amount. The fund, established in February last year by the eastern-based House of Representatives, has independent financial status, according to the parliament gazette. However, it is unclear if the governor of the Tripoli-based Central Bank of Libya, Naji Issa, will hand over the money for the fund.

TimesLIVE
5 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Chad seeks $30bn investment for development plan
Chad's national development plan seeks $30bn (R533.54bn) in public and private investment as it pursues growth in areas including digitalisation and infrastructure, the Central African country's finance minister Tahir Hamid Nguilin said on Tuesday. The plan called "Chad Connection 2030" is backed by the International Monetary Fund, which last month reached an agreement with the country for a four-year financial support programme worth about $630m (R11.20bn), and by the World Bank. It will be launched in September in Abu Dhabi, and aims to conclude deals with investors in sectors including roads, electricity and the digital economy. This is expected to generate average annual economic growth of 8% over the 2025-2030 period, Nguilin told journalists. Over the same period, the country's debt level will remain at 32% of gross domestic product, or around $2bn (R35.57bn), he said. Nguilin said the investment would help Chad to lift its citizens out of poverty, reduce its maternal mortality rate by 50% and double agricultural production. He added that the government plans to grant exploration permits to private companies operating in the oil and mining sectors, which should increase production. "Roughly speaking, we were favouring private rather than public investment, so that by the end of 2030, the share of the mining sector, excluding oil, could be at least 5% of GDP," Nguilin said, adding the current share, including artisanal mining, represented 1%-2%.