## IMF Executive Board Completes Final Review Under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement with Suriname _IMF News, March 24, 2025_ ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [IMF Executive Board Completes Final Review Under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement with Suriname](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/03/24/pr-2574-suriname-imf-completes-final-rev-under-eff-arrangement) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2025/03/24/pr-2574-suriname-imf-completes-final-rev-under-eff-arrangement/index.md) - [Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2025/03/24/pr-2574-suriname-imf-completes-final-rev-under-eff-arrangement/index.json) - [Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2025/03/24/pr-2574-suriname-imf-completes-final-rev-under-eff-arrangement/bundle-manifest.json) ## Bibliographic details - Published: March 24, 2025 --- ### Review completion and disbursement details - The Executive Board approved the ninth and final review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement with Suriname. - The completion allows the authorities to draw the equivalent of SDR 46.8 million (about USD 62 million). - Total program disbursement now totals SDR 430.7 million (about USD 572 million). - In completing the review, the Executive Board approved the authorities’ request for a waiver of non-observance of the end-December 2024 performance criteria on the central government primary balance based on the corrective actions the authorities have already taken. - Suriname’s EFF arrangement was approved on December 22, 2021, in an amount equivalent to SDR 472.8 million (366.8 percent of quota). ### Program objectives and outcomes - Program objective: restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, while laying the foundations for strong and more inclusive growth. - Program focus areas: restoring fiscal and debt sustainability; protecting the poor and vulnerable; upgrading the monetary and exchange rate policy framework; addressing banking sector vulnerabilities; and advancing the anti-corruption and governance reform agenda. - Reported outcomes: - The economy is growing. - Inflation is receding / approaching single digits. - Public debt is declining. - Autonomy and governance of the central bank have been strengthened. - Investor confidence is returning (international bond spreads are at record low levels). - Donor support is increasing. ### Near-term policy priorities - Maintain fiscal discipline in the run-up to the elections while protecting the vulnerable. - Main actions recommended: - Strengthen the fiscal framework, including operationalization of the recently enacted fiscal rules supported by appropriate institutional mechanisms. - Maintain the path for debt reduction while protecting the vulnerable from the burden of adjustment. - Gradually phase out electricity subsidies to create fiscal space. - Strengthen tax administration to create fiscal space for higher, targeted social assistance and infrastructure spending. - Fully implement the recently finalized social assistance reform plan to improve efficiency and effectiveness of social programs. - Strengthen financial management controls in the state-owned electricity company, including regularly publishing its audited financial statements. ### Debt restructuring, public finance, and cash management - Debt restructuring progress: - Bilateral agreements with all official creditors have been achieved. - Agreements have been reached with all but one commercial creditor. - Domestic debt arrears have been cleared. - Fiscal management recommendations: - Improve commitment controls in the budget. - Address weaknesses in cash management to restrain public spending and prevent accumulation of supplier arrears. ### Monetary policy and financial sector resilience - A restrictive monetary policy is supporting disinflation. - Recent implementation of the agreed central bank recapitalization plan is a critical step to ensure a strong central bank balance sheet with clear operational and financial autonomy. - Authorities’ commitment to a flexible, market-determined exchange rate is supporting international reserve accumulation. - Financial sector recommendations: - Timely implementation of recapitalization plans for undercapitalized commercial banks. - Improve monitoring of non-bank financial institutions to bolster financial sector resilience. - Continue strengthening oversight and governance to address banking sector vulnerabilities. ### Structural reforms and capacity development - Authorities should persevere with an ambitious structural reform agenda to: - Strengthen institutions. - Address governance weaknesses. - Build climate resilience. - Improve data quality. - Address gender gaps. - The Fund and other development partners will continue to support this work with capacity development. ### Statement by IMF Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair - Speaker: Mr. Kenji Okamura, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair. - Key points from the statement: - The authorities’ reforms under the EFF-supported program—the first ever to be completed by Suriname—are increasingly bolstering macroeconomic stability and investor confidence. - In view of the Final Investment Decision for the country’s oil resources, it is critical to put in place robust institutional frameworks, including fiscal rules and improved transparency and accountability safeguards. - Such institutional improvements will help Suriname avoid procyclical fiscal policy, prioritize urgent development needs, ensure intergenerational equity, and transform exhaustible resource wealth into financial assets. - Emphasis on fiscal discipline, social protection, fiscal space creation, financial management transparency, central bank recapitalization, flexible exchange rate policy, and continued structural reforms. *IMF Press Release No. 25/74, March 24, 2025* --- ## References - [Suriname and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/SUR/index.htm) - [Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews) - [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/) - [see Press Release No. 21/400](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/12/22/pr21400-imf-executive-board-approves-extended-arrangement-under-the-extended-fund-facility-suriname) - [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home) _Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/03/24/pr-2574-suriname-imf-completes-final-rev-under-eff-arrangement_