IMF conducts second Seychelles review for $107m lending facility
Finance |Author: Sedrick Nicette Edited By: Betymie Bonnelame | May 3, 2022, Tuesday @ 16:53| 4353 views
The head of the mission, Boriana Yontcheva, met with Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan on Tuesday. (Seychelles Nation)
A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in Seychelles conducting a second review as part of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement.
The IMF is supporting the economic reform programme of Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, with a $107 million lending arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The team has met with officials in the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Seychelle, and other departments. It has discussed the progress Seychelles has made to meet the various targets set by the IMF.
The head of the mission, Boriana Yontcheva, met with Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan on Tuesday.
"We are now in the middle of those discussions and we will continue those discussions during the week, after which we will brief the media on the review on Monday," said Yontcheva, who said that she cannot reveal much at this early stage of the review process.
IMF's first review was made in line with the agreement that the loan would be disbursed in four portions, with the first made in July 2021 and the second in December 2021.
During the first review in November 2021, the IMF said that Seychelles had made impressive progress and the hope is that the second review will bring about a similar reaction.
Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, embarked on the IMF reform programme with the objective to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while strengthening the post-COVID-19 recovery.
The island nation was hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis after a downturn in travel affected the tourism industry, the nation's top economic contributor.
The last time Seychelles embarked on economic reforms was in 2008 with a macroeconomic reform programme backed by the IMF, primarily to address a critical situation in the country's balance of payments and external debt difficulties. Following the programme, the island state was able to return to macroeconomic stability successfully.