The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed a US$63.8 million package with Mozambique that will support the southeast African country’s government strengthen its economic and financial policies, the Fund announced on Tuesday.
The Extended Credit Facility (ECF) agreement was one of the outcomes of discussions between Mozambican authorities and an IMF delegation led by Alvaro Piris that was in the country last week.
“The IMF team has reached a staff-level agreement with the Mozambican authorities on the economic and financial policies that could support the approval of the First Review of the programme under the ECF arrangement,” Piris said in a statement.
The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF executive board in December, which would enable the disbursement of the US$63.8 million.
Piris said the Mozambican economy continued to recover, with real gross domestic product growing by 4.6 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022.
Buoyed by improvements in the services, industry and agricultural sectors, this was the highest economic growth experienced by the country since the third quarter of 2018.
Global commodity price increases have supported a noticeable rebound in exports, but also pushed up food, fuel and transportation costs.
Mostly driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the related increase in global fuel and food prices, annualised inflation rose to 12.1 percent in August, its highest level since September 2017.
JN/APA