PARAMARBO, Suriname, CMC – The deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kenji Okamura, Tuesday ended a four-day visit to Suriname praising the government of the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country for its home-grown economic reform program that the Washington-based financial institution is supporting.
“I am delighted to visit Suriname for the first time to see first-hand the progress that the country has made,” Okamura said, following discussions with President Chandrikapersad Santohki, Vice President Ronnie Brunswick, Chairman of the National Assembly, Marinus Bee, Minister of Finance Kermechend Raghoebarsing and the Governor of the Central Bank, Maurice Roemer among other stakeholders.
“The government is implementing wide-reaching reforms to restore macroeconomic stability, address long-standing vulnerabilities, and put Suriname onto a path of sustainable and inclusive growth. The IMF supports this home-grown economic reform program through the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement,” he said.
He said that during his meeting with President Santohki, they discussed Suriname’s economic opportunities and challenges.
“I congratulated the President for the robust implementation of policies and reforms under the program, which helped achieve the long-awaited macroeconomic stabilization. I stressed the importance of maintaining good policies and reforms to preserve these hard-won gains and improve medium-term growth prospects.
”I discussed with the authorities the need to maintain fiscal prudence to put debt on a firmly downward path and build resilience to future shocks. It is important to persevere with removing wasteful and inefficient subsidies while at the same time expanding social assistance programs so that the poor and vulnerable are protected,” the IMF official said.
In that regard, there is an urgent need to address challenges and bottlenecks with the implementation of social programs to ensure that social assistance reaches qualified beneficiaries in all the districts of Suriname.
“I also had the opportunity to discuss other important issues, such as public sector reforms, addressing vulnerabilities to corruption, and capacity development needs with senior government officials, the leadership of the legislature, and development partners.
“We at the IMF have a close working relationship with the Surinamese authorities and stand ready to help them in the period ahead in their efforts to help the country entrench macroeconomic stability, strengthen institutions, and enhance future growth prospects,” Okamura said.
Last month, the IMF announced that Suriname would receive US$53 million after the executive board of the Washington-based financial institution completed the fourth review under the EFF arrangement for Suriname.
It said that the completion of the review allowed Suriname to draw the equivalent of SDR 39.4 million bringing total purchase under the EFF arrangement to SDR 197 million or an estimated US$263 million.
In completing the review, the IMF executive board also approved Suriname’s request for an augmentation of access equivalent to SDR 46.8 million or US$ 63 million and an extension of the EFF arrangement to end March 2025.
“With this augmentation, the total access expected under the EFF arrangement is SDR 430.7 million or about US$ 577 million,” the IMF said.
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