President Kagame meets with Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of IMF on the sidelines of G20 Compact with Africa, November 18, 2019. File Photo.
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , Kristalina Georgieva, will visit Rwanda among countries on her three-day working visit to Africa.
Her first visit to Africa after the Covid-19 pandemic was in December 2021 when she visited DR Congo and Senegal with intent to hear local perspectives on how to secure a smarter, greener, fairer future for Africa.
Georgieva will again set foot in Africa from January 22 to 26, 2023 and she is set to interact with different top officials in Rwanda, and Zambia
While in Rwanda, Georgieva is expected to meet the President Paul Kagame, the Prime Minister Ngirente and officials of the Finance ministry.
“Fantastic to be heading to Africa. The region is dear to my heart & crucial to the Fund’s work to improve lives. Looking forward to visiting Rwanda and Zambia. Will discuss with President Paul Kagame and Hakainde Hichilema homegrown reforms & partnering together to build resilient futures,” Georgieva said on Twitter this January 21, 2023.
Her visit to Rwanda follows the country being the first African nation to receive the $ 319 million IMF funding under its new Resilience and Sustainability Trust which was approved in December 2022.
In October 2022, the IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Rwanda on a 36-month financing package.
At the time, the IMF said the funding would help the country move forward with its economic reforms and build resilience against climate change.
The RSF-supported program will advance Rwanda’s efforts to build resilience to climate change by improving the transparency and accountability in the planning, execution, reporting, and oversight of budget resources dedicated to addressing climate change.
The program will include facilitating green public investment, creating further fiscal space, mitigating financial risks, and strengthening public debt dynamics and prospective balance-of-payments stability.
Disbursements to Rwanda under the RSF will be contingent on the conclusion of relevant reviews under a new 36-month Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) approved today and implementation of scheduled reform measures agreed as part of the RSF arrangement, which establishes Rwanda’s broad economic reform goals.
The new PCI for Rwanda replaces an instrument approved on June 28, 2019.
The new PCI will continue to support Rwanda’s macroeconomic policies and reforms, with a greater emphasis on policies to ensure macroeconomic stability and reforms to mitigate pandemic scars and to build socioeconomic resilience to shocks and insure against downside risks.
IMF missions to Rwanda have previously commended the Rwandan government for decisive economic policies aimed at safeguarding external sustainability and reinforcing Rwanda’s long-term development potential.
The mission has also recognized Rwanda’s ambitious program of supporting forward-looking policy reforms aimed at strengthening the efficiency of public spending; and improving tax compliance.
