{"id":29995,"date":"2016-11-03T02:48:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-03T02:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/imf-staff-conclude-review-visit-to-rwanda\/"},"modified":"2016-11-03T02:53:37","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T02:53:37","slug":"imf-staff-conclude-review-visit-to-rwanda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/imf-staff-conclude-review-visit-to-rwanda\/","title":{"rendered":"IMF staff conclude review visit to Rwanda"},"content":{"rendered":"

{{ {IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the government on policies for the completion of the sixth and first reviews of Rwanda’s PSI and SCF, respectively<\/p>\n

IMF’s Executive Board is scheduled to consider the reviews in January 2017<\/p>\n

The near-term objective of the current programs is to respond to adverse global developments, most notably commodity prices.} }}<\/p>\n

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Laure Redifer, visited Kigali from October 19-November 2, 2016 to carry out discussions with the Rwandan authorities on the sixth review of their economic and financial program supported by the IMF\u2019s Policy Support Instrument (PSI) [1] , and the first review of policies supported by the IMF\u2019s Stand-by Credit Facility (SCF). [2]<\/p>\n

Ms. Redifer issued the following statement at the end of the visit:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the government, subject to approval by IMF Management and the Executive Board, on policies that could support completion of the sixth and first reviews of Rwanda\u2019s PSI- and SCF-supported programs, respectively. The Executive Board is scheduled to consider the reviews in January 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cRwanda\u2019s economic performance remains strong, with GDP growth of 6.5 percent in the first half of 2016. Growth projections for the year remain at 6 percent, driven by services activity, with somewhat lower growth in agriculture due to the recent drought, and a contraction in manufacturing\/construction following the end of a recent investment boom. 12-month consumer price inflation has risen in recent months to about 6 percent, due mainly to higher food prices and, to a lesser extent, higher import prices following recent depreciation of the Rwandan franc.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main near-term objective of the current programs is to respond to adverse global developments, most notably commodity prices, which has led to growing external imbalances, resulting in pressure on the Rwandan franc and the banking system\u2019s foreign exchange reserves. To address external imbalances, short term adjustment policies have been put in place, comprised of: continued exchange rate adjustment, resulting in Rwandan franc depreciation of about 9 percent so far in 2016; modest containment of new public spending to protect priority spending while avoiding a spike in the fiscal deficit despite recent shortfalls of external financing; and a more prudent monetary policy stance, consistent with less expansive private sector credit growth. IMF staff agreed with the government\u2019s assessment that longer term policies should help restore external sustainability. These include accelerating policies to support larger and more diverse exports and promoting domestic production of certain products currently imported, through the recent \u201cMade in Rwanda\u201d campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerformance under the program has been strong, with almost all program targets set through end-June 2016 being achieved. Nascent signs suggest that adjustment policies are proving successful at reducing the trade deficit for goods and services, further abetted by the recent completion of several large public investment projects. Although these developments are likely to contain growth at a still-robust 6 percent through 2017, by reducing external imbalances they should help maintain official foreign exchange reserves coverage at adequate levels. IMF staff welcome the early and decisive actions already taken by the government, which will help to avoid a more serious situation. These policies should thereby help safeguard medium term growth prospects — around 7 percent \u2013by avoiding potentially harsher adjustment policies that are more disruptive to growth. Depending upon weather and agriculture, inflation is expected to get back toward the government\u2019s medium term 5 percent target.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo further support program objectives, the government plans to implement measures aimed at deepening financial market activity and improving effectiveness of monetary policy are welcomed. Moreover, measures to strengthening domestic revenue collection and enhance budget execution reporting for the purposes of budgetary planning should be beneficial.\u201d <\/p>\n

The mission met with Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Claver Gatete, Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, John Rwangombwa, Minister of Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs, Fran\u00e7ois Kanimba, Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Esperance Nyirasafari, Minister of Infrastructure, James Musoni, Members of the Parliament Budget Commission, and other senior government officials, private sector representatives, and development partners. The team thanks the various interlocutors for the collaborative and candid discussions.<\/p>\n

[1] Rwanda\u2019s PSI-supported program was approved by the IMF Executive Board on December 2, 2013 (see Press Release No.13\/483). The PSI is an instrument of the IMF designed for countries that do not need balance of payments financial support. The PSI helps countries design effective economic programs that, once approved by the IMF’s Executive Board, signal to donors, multilateral development banks, and markets the Fund’s endorsement of a member’s policies. Details of Rwanda\u2019s current PSI are available at www.imf.org\/rwanda.<\/p>\n

[2] Rwanda\u2019s SCF-supported program was approved by the IMF Executive Board on June 8, 2016 (see Press Release No.16\/270). The SCF provides financing to low-income countries on concessional terms.<\/p>\n

\"IMF<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{{ {IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the government on policies for the completion of the sixth and first reviews of Rwanda’s PSI and SCF, respectively IMF’s Executive Board is scheduled to consider the reviews in January 2017 The near-term objective of the current programs is to respond to adverse global developments, most notably commodity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[75],"byline":[2741],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-29995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","tag-homenews","byline-imf"],"bylines":[{"id":2741,"name":"IMF","slug":"imf","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2741,"name":"IMF","slug":"imf","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29995\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29995"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=29995"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=29995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}