The IMF executive board on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a three-year credit worth 169 million dollars for Sierra Leone to help the conflict-riven West African nation fight poverty.
Final approval for the credit, called a poverty reduction and growth facility, will come with action by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund's sister institution. The bank's executive board is due to convene on September 25.
With a final decision, Sierra Leone will be able to draw on about 61 million dollars immediately.
"The Fund welcomes the progress in consolidating the peace process in Sierra Leone after a protracted civil war that caused enormous suffering and loss of life," said IMF deputy managing director Eduardo Aninat in a statement.
"The authorities have prepared a medium-term economic program aimed at enhancing growth and addressing ... the desperate poverty situation that now confronts the overwhelming majority of the people of Sierra Leone."
He said the priorities for the government were to complete the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, re-settle refugees and boost economic activity.
In the 2001-2004 period, he added, the goal is to increase annual growth to six to seven percent, reduce inflation and build up the central bank's foreign exchange reserves. |
