Browsing: IMF

• New investment in Tanzania’s railways sector is expected to directly benefit nearly 900,000 people and indirectly impact an estimated 3.5 million.
• Tanzania operates two railway systems, totaling 3,682 km in length.

Tanzania railway sector is poised for immense growth as the World Bank poured significant funding by approving $200 million in financing from the International Development Association (IDA) which is a part of the bank.

According to available information from the World Bank statement made on Friday, the bank said the financing for the second phase of the Tanzania Intermodal and Rail Development Project (TIRP-2) will improve safety, climate resilience, and operational efficiency along this railway segment.

Read also: AfDB approves $696.4M financing for Tanzania-Burundi-DRC railway project

Tanzania railway plan anchored on Dar- Morogoro SGR

The funding comes a few weeks after Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) began its inaugural trial journey of the electric Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train …

• The IMF has approved an expansion of the original economic rescue program for Egypt by $5 billion.
• Spillovers from the recent conflict in Gaza and Israel aggravated the shaky economic situation in Egypt.
• Egypt has recently taken difficult but necessary reforms to correct the country’s microeconomic imbalance.

IMF’s Economic Rescue Program for Egypt

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the first and second reviews of Egypt’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF)arrangement, approving an expansion of the original economic rescue program by $5 billion.

The IMF had initially approved a $3 billion loan in December 2022 but has …

• BRICS’ owned New Development Bank (NDB) was set up in 2015 by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
• The multilateral lender is planning to disburse about $5 billion in loans this year.
• The bank has an initial verified capital of $100 billion and a subscribed capital of $50 billion.

Emerging economies could give the superpowers a run in the lending sector with the the BRICS alliance planning to disburse about $5 billion in loans this year. This was announced by the bloc’s New Development Bank (NDB) Vice President Zhou Qiangwu on Tuesday, March 26.

As China, one of Africa’s closest trade …

• As national debts grow, many African countries find themselves spending more on debt than on health.
• IMF says the debt ratio in Sub-Saharan Africa surged to 60% from 30% of the countries’ GDP between 2013 and December 2022.
• Kenya is for instance using nearly 60% of its annual revenues on paying debt obligations.

As the Africa debt crisis roils, over half of the countries have found themselves spending more money in servicing their loan obligations than even the amount they have budgeted for health services to their citizens.

This unfolding scenario is further burdening millions of their citizens who have little choice but to shoulder heavy tax burdens to settle mountains of debt.

Prof Danny Bradlow, a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship in Pretoria, South Africa, captures the dire situation, stating: “over the  last three years (2019/22), more than 25 African governments allocated …

• The IMF has issued Uganda $120 million as part of its Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement to aid recovery.
• Total disbursement to Uganda under the ECF Arrangement now reaches $870 million.
• IMF urges Uganda to give its Central Bank independence 

Kampala is set to receive $120 million as part of its Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to aid Uganda’s economic recovery amidst various challenges, including backlash due to a harsh anti-LGBTQ law.

The IMF executive board has approved immediate disbursement of the said amount after the conclusion of its fifth review of Uganda’s ECF Arrangement. “This brings the aggregate disbursement under the ECF Arrangement to about $870 million,” the IMF note says in part.

Uganda qualified for about $1 billion under the ECF Arrangement as of June 2021, which is now distributed in part every other year.

IMF loan to aid Uganda’s economic recovery

• Nigeria’s cost of living crisis has been the worst in decades, exacerbated by worsening food insecurity and record inflation. 
• The lack of enough resources has led to insecurity in Nigeria as people fight for scarce resources and food.
• In response to Nigeria’s cost of living crisis, Tinubu announced a state of emergency in July and intends to begin grain distribution in the coming weeks.

Tinubu’s Reforms worsen Nigeria’s cost of living crisis

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades and a worsening food security situation. A significant portion of the population is experiencing extreme food insecurity. After assuming power in May 2023, Bola Tinubu’s administration adopted bold but unpopular reforms that further strained the already-battered economy.

Nigeria imports food and fuel and was buffeted by rising commodity prices due to a glim global economic situation in the last two years. President Tinubu …

• Egypt’s economy has recently been on life support as the national debt continued to mount.
• The investments from Saudi Arabia and further funds anticipated from the World Bank and IMF will give Egypt enough cash to meet its debt obligations and maintain stability in its recently floated currency.
• The significant official and bilateral support announced and marked policy steps that Egypt has taken will, if maintained, support macroeconomic balancing.

Egypt’s economy on life support

Egypt’s economy has recently been on life support as the national debt continued to mount. The Egyptian currency has weakened against the US dollar, with rising inflation rates close to 30 per cent, occasioning a capital flight. Moreover, the overlapping global shocks and the domestic supply of bottlenecks have adversely impacted the country’s economic activity.

Egypt has also suffered from rising global interest rates and soaring commodity prices in international markets. These overlapping factors widen the …

• The Kenyan shilling has made a strong turnaround against the US dollar this week,
• Last Tuesday, Kenya successfully raised $1.5 billion from its Eurobonds buyback offer initiated on February 7, reducing the chance of defaulting payment on its $2-billion-dollar debt due in June.
• East Africa’s most robust economy plans to use the funds to repay its debut Eurobond issued in 2014.

The Kenyan shilling has made a strong turnaround against the Ubest human hair wigs for black females jordan air force 1 latex hood sac eastpak nike air jordan 1 elevate low smith and soul johnny manziel jersey jordan max aura 4 dallas cowboys slippers mens johnny manziel jersey bouncing putty egg adidas yeezy boost 350 turtle dove luvme human hair wigs jordan proto max 720 uberlube luxury lubricant S dollar this week, moving towards the most potent levels since March last year, mainly on investor confidence and increased …

• Kenya’s distressed debt levels are pushing the country in a tight spot following years of successive borrowing, the Institute of Public Finance (IPF) says in its latest Macro Fiscal Analytical Snapshot Report.
• This is compounded by the inability of the private sector to create woefully insufficient jobs for millions of young people entering the job market annually.
• The report notes that since 2014, persistent high fiscal deficits have resulted in a swift escalation of public debt, now standing at 70 per cent of the GDP.

Kenya risks missing its economic growth targets in the medium-term as the country grapples with high debt distress and a deteriorating macroeconomic operating environment.

According to the Institute of Public Finance (IPF) in its latest Macro Fiscal Analytical Snapshot Report, the country finds itself in a tight spot following years of successive borrowing.

This is coupled with the inability of the private sector to create …

• The IMF’s support fund refers to the designated Special Drawing Right (SDR), which serves as an international reserve asset to supplement the official reserves of its member nations.
• It represents a potential claim on the members’ freely usable currencies, primarily intended to provide liquidity to a nation in the event of an economic crisis.
• As of September, Kenya’s SDR quota at the IMF stood at US$542.8 million, equivalent to KSh91.8 billion.

Leaders from developing countries continue to pursue the implementation of the proposed re-channeling of the IMF’s support fund through development banks, aiming for affordability and increased impact scale.

This was evident on the sidelines of the recent COP28 summit, where African leaders emphasized the acceleration of the process towards realizing the proposal. The summit took place between November 30 and December 12 last year in Dubai.

Proposal: IMF’s support fund to come through AfDB

African Development Bank (AfDB) Group …