Suriname secures agreement with IMF, to receive USD 62.5 million

Suriname has been slated to receive USD 62.5 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), this brings the nation's collective disbursements to a total of USD 326 million to date, following the conclusion of the staff-level agreement with the institution.

The IMF has been supporting the nation's economic recovery program via the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the reviews are subject to approval from the IMF’s executive board. The IMF suggests that Suriname’s economy is expected to grow close to three percent by the end of this fiscal year. Inflation has also been on a steady decline and investors appear to be confident about the nation’s economic comeback. A conservative budget for 2024 was put in place to align with the programme’s fiscal goal.

The organization’s priority is to maintain fiscal discipline and keep away from backtracking policy to the best of its ability. Anastasia Guscina, the team lead of Suriname’s review stated “Programme performance has been strong and all performance criteria for this review were met. This staff-level agreement is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board, contingent on the fulfilment of all relevant Fund policies.”

However, it was also emphasized that the nation is facing some detrimental near-term risks, mainly surrounding policy implementation hurdles as a result of a challenging and changing socio-political landscape and capacity restraints.

Guscina goes on to say “Programme performance during the fifth review has been solid. All quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets under the program were met, except for the spending floor on social assistance. The structural reform agenda is progressing, albeit with delays.”

She highlights the fact that defending the vulnerable and monetarily poor during this period of adjusting policy and economic shifts will remain a priority and that increases in social transfers are to be choreographed by phasing out electricity subsidies.

The IMF suggested that at the start of the year, revisions made to the Banking and Credit Supervision Act along with the Bank Resolution Act assisted in aligning legislation with international standards and best practices in banking supervision and resolution.