Press Release No. 10/65

Press Release: IMF Executive Board Completes the First Review of São Tomé and Príncipe’s ECF Arrangement and Approves a US$570,000 Disbursement

February 26, 2010

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the first review of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe's economic performance under a three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. The completion of the review, which was undertaken on a lapse of time basis¹ and effective on February 17, enabled the release of an amount equivalent to SDR 370,000 (about US$570,000), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 740,000 (about US$1.13 million).

In completing the review, the Executive Board granted São Tomé and Príncipe waivers for the non-observance of two quantitative performance criteria that were missed because of a shortfall in tax revenues in the first half of 2009, which reflected the impact of the global crisis.

The Executive Board approved the three-year ECF arrangement on March 3, 2009 (see Press Release No. 09/54), for a total amount of SDR 2.59 million (about US$3.97 million) to support the government's economic program for 2009–2011.

¹ The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse of time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.