The funds will be made available to Rwanda upon the completion of an economic review by the IMF Executive Board in mid-December.
A team from the IMF concluded a two-week mission on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, to assess the country's economic performance, praising its strong growth momentum despite external shocks.
The IMF team, led by Reuben Atoyan, stated that Rwanda's real GDP is projected to grow by 8.3% in 2024. According to the IMF, this growth is driven by strong performances in the services and construction sectors, as well as a recovery in food crop production.
The team observed that despite external challenges, inflation remains under control, staying within the central bank's target range of 2% to 8% due to favorable food prices and a tight monetary policy.
Atoyan highlighted that the 6.6% depreciation of the Rwandan Franc against the US dollar was a necessary measure for facilitating essential external adjustments, while international reserves stood at 4.5 months of prospective imports by mid-2024, providing a buffer against external shocks.
"Despite the challenging environment, macroeconomic policy performance through the end of June 2024 remained aligned with program objectives under the PCI/SCF arrangement. All quantitative targets were met, and reforms aimed at enhancing the transparency of public investments and strengthening foreign exchange market functioning are progressing well," Atoyan stated.
The IMF representative emphasized the Rwandan government's strong commitment to implementing climate-related reforms under the RSF arrangement, with measures for climate budget tagging, improving the climate resilience of public investments, adopting sustainability disclosure standards, and developing a green taxonomy on track for completion in the coming weeks.
The IMF team acknowledged that recurrent shocks in recent years have complicated the government's goal of rebuilding policy buffers. Fiscal consolidation has progressed more slowly than anticipated, resulting in a continued increase in the public debt-to-GDP ratio.
However, the government has reiterated its commitment to fiscal prudence, focusing on concessional financing and advancing a medium-term revenue strategy to stabilize its fiscal position.
Wycliffe Nyamasege
Source : https://en.igihe.com/economy/article/rwanda-to-receive-184-9-million-from-imf-in-new-funding
