IMF's board approves $625-million loan deal for Chad
The program, finalized in May between Central African officials and IMF staff, aims to ensure Chad's fiscal sustainability, create room for development projects, expand targeted social spending to fight poverty, and enhance governance and the business environment to promote private sector growth, the IMF said.
That will in turn help with implementing an ambitious national development blueprint that requires $30 billion in public and private investment in sectors such as roads, electricity, and the digital economy.
The plan, due to be launched in Abu Dhabi in September, should lead to average annual economic growth of 8% and help keep the debt level at 32% of gross domestic product over the 2025-2030 period, the country's finance minister said in June.
Chad, whose junta leader was sworn in after an election last year, has been under pressure from declining oil prices, development assistance cuts, and regional instability.
It hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from Sudan's civil war who live in dire shelter conditions due to funding shortages.
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Sky News
3 hours ago
- Sky News
Democratic Republic of Congo: At least 34 people killed after Islamic State-backed rebels attack Catholic church
Islamic State-backed rebels killed at least 34 people in an attack at a Catholic church in eastern Congo on Sunday, according to officials. A civil society leader in Komanda, in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, told the AP news agency that the attack was believed to have been carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist rebel group. Dieudonne Duranthabo, civil society coordinator, said: "The bodies of the victims are still at the scene of the tragedy, and volunteers are preparing how to bury them in a mass grave that we are preparing in a compound of the Catholic church." He condemned the attack "in a town where all the security officials are present" before adding: "We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town." Other city officials told the Reuters news agency that 38 people were killed, 15 injured, and several others were still missing. Christophe Munyanderu, a human rights activist present at the scene in Komanda, said shots were heard overnight, but people at first thought it was thieves. "The rebels mainly attacked Christians who were spending the night in the Catholic church," he said. "Unfortunately, these people were killed with machetes or bullets." The ADF was formed by disparate small groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with former president Yoweri Museveni. In 2002, following military assaults by Ugandan forces, the group moved its activities to the neighbouring DRC, and has since been responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians. According to a 2019 report on terrorism from the US Department of State, the ADF established ties with Islamic State in late 2018 It comes after at least five other people were killed in an attack on the nearby village of Machongani, where a search is ongoing. "They took several people into the bush," Lossa Dhekana, a civil society leader in Ituri province, told the AP, "we do not know their destination or their number".
Libya Herald
4 hours ago
- Libya Herald
Secular and religious agree on need for Libya's gradual energy subsidy reform
The secular and religious worlds have come to agreement on the need for Libya to gradually reform its fuel subsidies in the unlikely bedfellows of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Libya's (western region) Grand Mufti (the highest religious authority). Dar Al-Ifta, the highest religious body, released a video clip last Thursday (24 July) of the Grand Mufti of Libya, Sadeg al-Ghiriani, basing his religious recommendation on Libya's fuel subsidy reform on the IMF's study published this month entitled 'Energy Subsidy Reform in Libya'. Speaking on the problems of Libya's economy, the Mufti said ''the first step to reforming the waste of public money that Libya is currently experiencing is to lift the (energy) subsidies, almost half probably more, of which go to the money of criminals and smugglers''. Drawing on the IMF Al-Ghariani continued ''The report issued by the IMF calling for the lifting of energy subsidies is a study by international experts, the government should take advantage of it and gradually lift subsidies, as the report suggested, as there is no country in the world where gasoline and energy are sold at the price that it is sold at (LD 0.15 / US$ 0.09 per litre) in Libya''. Lack of trust in government – fear of failure to compensate for subsidy removal Dealing with some of the opposition Libyans have to the introduction of fuel subsidy reforms, the Grand Mufti said Libyans 'should not let their emotions carry them away by saying they fear if subsidies are removed the government will not live up to its promise to substitute it with a direct cash payment (equivalent to their realistic average annual consumption of fuel). ''Do Libyans agree to at least a third of their state budget being wasted away, robbed by thieves for illicit use and profligacy? This (continued squandering of public money) is not appropriate to the behaviour of any wise, Muslim or human being'', he added. ''I therefore call on the (Tripoli based Libyan) government to open this topic again based on the IMF's report and work on gradually lifting the (energy) subsidies, as suggested in the IMF report until energy prices reach their real (market) price''. The IMF study on Libya's energy subsidy reform It will be recalled that, and as reported by Libya Herald, the IMF report had stated that energy subsidies have become a significant burden on government finances in Libya. The study said the pervasive nature of subsidies has led to rampant corruption, smuggling, and a diversion of resources from essential public services. The paper identifies key barriers to reform, including opposition from vested interest groups and public apprehension regarding inflation and welfare loss. To address these challenges, a strategic reform plan is proposed, emphasizing a phased approach, a comprehensive communication plan and social protection measures to mitigate the adverse effects of subsidy removal. By taking these steps, Libya can transition towards a more sustainable framework that supports macroeconomic stability, the IMF study stated. . IMF study entitled 'Energy Subsidy Reform in Libya' concludes that reform is crucial as subsidies lead to overconsumption and premature resource depletion Fuel subsidies reached LD 60 billion, 30 percent of which is smuggled – therefore can invest just LD 5 bn in housing: CBL Governor Issa Audit Bureau 2023 Annual Report: 2023 state subsidies amounted to LD 68.5 billion Libya loses about US$ 12 billion annually in smuggled subsidies: Aldabaiba Decision to remove fuel subsidies has been taken: PM Aldabaiba ( NOC chairman Bengdara says his organisation is not a security force to combat fuel smuggling ( Aldabaiba forms ministerial committee to study mechanism for fuel subsidy reform – again ( Supreme Council for Energy adopts NOC 2023-2027 plan, including alternative energy project ( Supreme Council for Energy Affairs holds first meeting ( At Gharian cabinet meeting, Aldabaiba explains fall in black-market value of dinar and resounds alarm over fuel subsidies ( Fuel quantities, smuggling and subsidy reform – and increased oil production through PPP discussed at summit meeting ( Alternatives to fuel subsidies with cash payments delivered to Aldabaiba ( Prime minister Aldabaiba forms Ministerial committee to study reforming fuel subsidies, orders payment of family grant, increases pensions ( Libya's Economic Reform Salon proposes reforms for the country's fuel subsidies | ( Fuel subsidy reform proposal presented to Serraj government | ( Libya reduces subsidies on commercial-use kerosene | ( Subsidies are seen as an entitlement by Libyans: GNA Planning Minister | ( Government to reduce petrol subsidies | ( Cash for goods subsidy reform adopted by Tripoli authorities | ( Subsidy reform: petrol prices to be increased by 200% | ( 2014 Budget commits government to subsidy reform by Jan 2015 | ( The 2014 Budget: Subsidies up – despite deficit and oil exporting crises | ( 2014 budget expected to be LD 68.59bn – salaries and subsidies shoot up | ( Unemployment, subsidies, undiversified economy, stifled private sector – problems of Libyan economy: WB | ( Fuel subsidies removed over 30 months in three stages – Economy Minister Abufunas | ( Subsidy reform: Smugglers are the ones prospering from subsidies – Zeidan | ( Cabinet meeting forms committee on subsidies – Zeidan | ( Oil minister says fuel subsidies to go by 2016 | (
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Christian worshippers killed in IS-linked attack in DR Congo
Dozens of people have been killed in an attack by an Islamic State affiliate in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials 20 of the dead were worshippers taking part in a night vigil at a church in the town of Komanda when they were attacked by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters, they shops and businesses were looted and set on ADF emerged in Uganda in the 1990s, accusing the government there of persecuting Muslims, but is now based over the border in DR Congo, where it regularly attacks civilians of all religions, as well as in Uganda. It has since become part of the Islamic State's Central African Province, which also includes a group in to research by BBC Monitoring, nearly 90% of IS operations are now carried out by affiliates in Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator in Komanda, told the Associated Press that more bodies could be found after the latest attack."More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside [the church] and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. But the search is continuing." Father Aime Lokana Dhego, a local priest, told the AFP news agency: "We have at least 31 dead members of the Eucharistic Crusade movement, with six seriously injured. Some young people were kidnapped, we have no news of them." He added that seven other bodies had been found elsewhere in the UN-sponsored Radio Okapi website put the number of dead at 43.A spokesperson for the army said he could confirm 10 2021, DR Congo invited Ugandan troops into the country to help tackle the ADF. Attacks however still is in DR Congo's mineral-rich Ituri province, which has been fought over by various armed groups for many years. ADF: The Ugandan rebels working with IS in DR CongoInside view of the IS-linked ADF rebels Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
