Indonesia's 'Sister Country' Is Getting More Involved In The IMF, Fresh Funds Are Just Called Ready To Disburse

JAKARTA - The IMF Executive Board is said to have completed the third review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Suriname, which allows the disbursement of funds equivalent to around 52 million US dollars. Of this figure, more than half will be used to support the state financial budget.

IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura said that the government's commitment to macroeconomic stability and fiscal discipline through this program was starting to bear fruit.

"The economy is starting to stabilize as exchange rate pressures subside and inflation, although still high, is on a downward trend," he said as reported on the official website earlier this week.

Kenji explained that the Surinamese government's main short-term policy priority is to maintain fiscal prudence while protecting the most vulnerable groups and supporting investments that increase growth.

Furthermore, the aim of the program is to support the authorities' economic recovery plans to restore fiscal and debt sustainability through fiscal consolidation and debt restructuring, as well as advancing the anti-corruption and governance agenda.

“The authorities have made concerted efforts to advance debt restructuring negotiations, with agreements in line with program parameters reached with all creditors except China. "Both parties expressed their commitment to try to reach an agreement on terms comparable to other creditors at the next review," he said.

Kenji added that continued policy discipline and momentum for structural reform are very important to achieve the success of the government's economic recovery program.

He said, structural reforms to strengthen institutions, governance and data quality remain a top priority with continued capacity development support from the IMF and other development partners.

"The authorities must also continue to take steps to strengthen the anti-corruption and anti-money laundering framework to ensure alignment with international standards," stressed Kenji, giving direction to the country which also has an ethnic Javanese population.