On December 21, 2018, the Executive Board of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) completed the third review of Chad’s economic and financial
program supported by an
Extended Credit Facility
(ECF) arrangement. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of
SDR 35.05 million (about US$48.6 million), bringing total disbursements
under the arrangement to SDR 140.2 million (about US$194.5 million).
The Executive Board also approved the authorities’ request for a waiver of
the nonobservance of the continuous performance criterion on the
accumulation of new external payment arrears by the government and
nonfinancial public enterprises.
Chad’s ECF arrangement was originally approved by the Executive Board on
June 30, 2017 (see Press Release
No. 17/257) for SDR 224.32 million (about US$ 312.1 million or 160 percent of Chad’s
quota). The ECF-supported program aims to help Chad restore macroeconomic
stability, lay the foundation for robust and inclusive growth, and
contribute to the regional effort to restore and preserve external
stability for the Central African Economic and Monetary Union (CEMAC).
Following the Executive Board discussion, Mr. Tao Zhang, Deputy Managing
Director and Acting Chair, made the following statement:
“Performance under the ECF-supported program has been satisfactory,
reflecting strong commitment by the authorities. Decisive implementation of
the authorities’ program will help strengthen macroeconomic stability and
support diversified and inclusive growth. Progress is underway on the
structural reform agenda, despite some delays.
“Moving forward, the authorities are determined to continue their efforts
to further stabilize the fiscal position, energize non-oil growth, and
reduce banking sector vulnerabilities. Key policies in this regard include
maintaining control over the wage bill, increasing domestic revenue
mobilization, and improving public financial management. This would help
create sufficient space for increased spending in social sectors and public
investment, and to pay down domestic debt and domestic arrears.
Strengthening anti-corruption legislation and addressing weaknesses in some
of the domestic banks are also key.
“Chad’s program is supported by the implementation of supportive
policies and reforms by the regional institutions in the areas of
foreign exchange regulations and monetary policy framework and to
support an increase in regional net foreign assets, which are critical
to the program’s success.”
