IMF approves US$11.4m for Liberia

The Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved an amount equivalent to Special Drawing Rights (SDR) of 7.382 million (about US$11.4 million) for Liberia.
An IMF statement sent to PANA in New York Thursday said the Board’s decision was based on its completion of the second review of Liberia’s performance under the three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.

The IMF said the approval brought the total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 22.146 million (about US$34.2 million).

The Board also approved the authorities’ requests for modification of end-December 2013 and end-June 2014 performance criterion on the ceiling on new domestic borrowing of the central government.

It also recalled that the ECF arrangement for Liberia for the equivalent of SDR 51.68 million (about US$79.7 million) was approved by the IMF’s Executive Board on 19 Nov. 2012.

Mr. Naoyuki Shinohara, IMF’s Deputy Managing Director and Acting Board’s Chair, said: ‘Liberia’s economic growth remains strong and the medium-term outlook is positive, provided new projects in the mining and plantation sectors come on stream’.

He also said the non-resource real GDP growth is expected to continue to pick up in 2014–15, as the authorities continue to press ahead with the implementation of large energy and road infrastructure projects, in line with their Agenda for Transformation.