The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reviewing the South Sudanese government’s plan to benefit from a new financial aid package ahead of the November 15 compliance deadline, according to the budget for Juba’s economic, administrative and political reforms.
An IMF team led by Mame Astou Diouf visited Juba from September 25 to October 2 to meet with officials of the People’s Labor Bureau (PMB), which reports to the Committee Leadership. They will be discussed in the third review below.
“The representatives discussed the performance against the PMB’s quantitative targets by the end of June 2024 and the progress towards the implementation of the model,” Ms Diouf said on Wednesday.
The PMB mission was established by the IMF in 2022 to assist countries that have received new financial assistance or loans free of charge through international cooperation efforts from creditors or donors, or that have outstanding debts with the IMF as an emergency financing tool.
Project supervision by IMF staff is often used in cases where IMF members cannot benefit from IMF services.
In February 2023, the IMF added South Sudan to the program and set several targets, including requiring authorities to disclose all trade agreements signed with oil companies and quarterly reports from the oil industry.
The program is designed to support South Sudan’s reform process, to maintain macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, as well as improve governance and transparency, to further establish a record of fiscal planning for the loan tranches.
South Sudan’s PMB has been extended twice before by three months, and Juba has requested an additional six-month extension until November 15, 2024, to implement the outstanding changes under the PMB and accept the clearing rules.
An extension of should give the government time to resolve the issues of payment, budget, and policy changes, strengthen the macroeconomic process to resolve recent external obstacles, and implement measures to secure revenues from oil, especially oil, and their use. -Road Expenditure according to plan.
