With IMF trajectory, Suriname to make deal with Oppenheimer bondholders: Prez Santokhi

Suriname: The Republic of Suriname and the IMF have completed policy discussions on a new medium-term program that will be supported with IMF resources of around US$ 690 million under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).”

Suriname reached Staff Level Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). US$ 690 million for 3 years will be made available after the IMF Executive Board gives the green light. This will strengthen the position of the Central Bank.

Prez Chan Santokhi stated:

But IMF doesn’t come without conditions. We have prepared these conditions ourselves. It’s our national reform plan.

Together we will have to reform the economy towards a production and export economy. There is too much importation, and there is too little export.

This will have to be reformed sustainably, and the whole society will have to participate in it.

The IMF has not missed the fact that the banks have lent enormous loans to the State, which has incurred high risks. So the banks will also be looked at; the bank’s risk profile has to be reduced, while efficiency will have to be increased.

With the IMF trajectory, we are being enabled to make a deal with the Oppenheimer bondholders. Still, we can also attract funds from the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank.

These funds will be invested in strengthening and promoting the production sector, carrying out fiscal reform, and in ′′ initiating government reform to an efficient and service-based device.

In response to a request from the administration of Suriname, an International Monetary Fund-(IMF) mission led by Ali Alichi organized virtual-meetings over the past various months to discuss IMF financial support for the authorities’ economic reform-program. At the end of the-virtual mission, Mr Alichi issued the statement:

“I am pleased to declare that the IMF staff finished policy discussions with the officials and reached an understanding on a new medium-term program that could be approved by IMF resources of SDR 472.8 million (about US$ 690 million) following the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the span of 36 months, above 2021-2024.