THE AFRICA BAZAAR STAFF
October 19, 2019
At a bilateral meeting held at the IMF headquarters in Washington, D.C, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva and Somalia’s Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire mulled proposal on securing Somalia’s eligibility for debt relief financing under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative administered by the IMF and the World Bank Group.
Managing Director Georgieva, a former World Bank Group’s Chief Executive Officer who earlier this month took over the rein at the multilateral financial institution said she was encouraged by the strong economic reform program that the Somalia’s government has in place to boost its economic growth, especially given the political and economic challenging environment the government faces and noted that “maintaining strong performance, together with support from international partners, will pave the way for Somalia to receive debt relief [under the Highly-Indebted Poor Country] in the near future.”
Premier Khaire in response reiterated the government’s strong commitment to reforms under the current IMF’s Staff Monitored Program and highlighted its completion of the 9th National Development plan, both of which aim to meet requirements of the HIPC initiative.
The IMF’s chief said she assured the Prime Minister of the “IMF’s full support for Somalia’s efforts to secure debt relief, including working with the membership of the Fund to secure the financial resources necessary to clear arrears to the IMF and cover the costs of debt relief.”
