Rwanda can avail of another slice of its USD9.2 million loan from the International Monetary Fund. The decision accompanied an announcement indicating that the agency completed its review of the country’s economic performance under the three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility arrangement. “Program performance in 2007 was satisfactory, and macroeconomic policy implementation was broadly on track. Growth was robust and inflation declined to single digits in the second half of the year. However, inflationary pressures have reemerged recently, spurred by increasing global fuel and food prices and higher transport costs for imports through Kenya,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Murilo Portugal said. “The planned investment in a hydroelectric power plant will alleviate an important impediment to private sector growth. The authorities intend to evaluate infrastructure projects carefully and on a case-by-case basis, to ensure their cost effectiveness and to calculate accurately their impact on overall debt sustainability. They recognize that grants and highly concessional financing for such projects will remain appropriate for some time,” Portugal added. (Press release: IMF Executive Board Completes Fourth Review under PRGF Arrangement for Rwanda and Approves USD1.8 Million Disbursement/International Monetary Fund)
