MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – Somali Finance Minister, Elmi Noor and officials from International Monetary Fund as well as World Bank are holding talks in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
According to sources privy to the meeting, the officials who started their discussion on Tuesday will focus on Somalia achieving debt relief, domestic revenue issues, the Public Financial Management (PFM) system, Good Governance, and the Financial Reform process.
The development barely three weeks after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) assured to give Somalia $9.4 million following the latest review by the lMF’s executive board. The funds will push the total of disbursement to Somalia to $386.1 million over seven years.
Over the past five years, Somalia has gone through IMF Staff Monitoring Performance reviews with the latest falling under the Extended Credit Facility and the Extended Fund Facility.
At the end of the review, the board approved a fourth HIPC interim assistance of SDR 2.211 million to cover 100 percent of Somalia’s eligible debt service to the IMF that falls due between June 17, 2023 and June 16, 2024.
In March, an IMF team led by Laura Jaramillo, held discussions with Somali authorities in Nairobi and agreed on the fifth review under the ECF arrangement.
“Notwithstanding significant climate, security, and political challenges, the Somalia authorities remain committed to economic reforms and the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) process with the aim of building resilience, promoting inclusive growth, and reducing poverty,” the IMF said.
It added that the HIPC Completion Point, a stage granting full debt relief, appears achievable by the last quarter of 2023.
“Improvements are ongoing on public financial management, including on payroll integration. It will be important to continue to implement reforms to improve Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism and strengthen governance and transparency, including on procurement and concessions,” the IMF added.
Discussion about this post