As Suriname awaits oil-driven economic change… Government clinches US$690M IMF deal

President Republic of Suriname Chan Santokhi

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday announced that it had reached an agreement with the Government of Suriname to provide the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state with financial support over the next three years through an Extended Facility Fund agreement worth US$690 million.

The IMF, in a statement, said that the Agreement, which is subject to the approval of its Executive Board, was arrived at after a series of virtual meetings between teams from the authorities in the country’s capital, Paramaribo, and the Fund. The discourse, the IMF statement said, revolved around how the Fund can support the ongoing economic reform programme currently underway in the South American republic.

Quoting from the statement issued by the Fund following the exchanges with the Surinamese authorities, a Caribbean Business Report on Tuesday said that agreement had been reached “on a new medium-term program that could be supported by IMF resources of SRD 472.8 million (about US$ 690 million) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the duration of 36 months, over 2021-2024.”