On the right track. This is the little that can be said about the negotiations of the Malagasy authorities with the International Monetary Fund, IMF. Optimism shared yesterday evening at the meeting room of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Antaninarenina.
Not very talkative about the content of the discussions, Frédéric Lambert, head of mission of the IMF, nevertheless revealed a calendar deadline. “We hope to reach an Agreement by the end of June.”
But what Agreement is this? Rindra Hasimbelo Rabarinirinarison, Minister of Economy and Finance, provides clear and unequivocal details. “The government has chosen to abandon the Extended Credit Facility, ECF, in its current configuration. To renegotiate another with four pillars. Fiscal anchoring and public finances, good governance, the monetary pillar and inclusive growth for human development and human capital. Madagascar aspires to obtain the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, FRD, more conducive to our financial needs because it is aimed at countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and facing environmental challenges. However, to hope to have access to the FRD, the requesting country must, among other conditions, be under a sub-program with the IMF for at least 18 months. While the current FEC ends in July.”
She hopes to have it both ways. No less than $312 million for the new FEC, following our quota, and as much as possible for the FRD, a fairly volatile trust fund, which is why it is necessary to work on this. Madagascar plans to raise 660 million dollars. But nothing is certain yet. The report from Frédéric Lambert’s team will go to the IMF Review Department before the final and crucial examination by the Executive Board.
Rindra Hasimbelo Rabarinirinarison recognized that “the references of the current FEC should be inserted in the new one”. For example, automatic adjustment of fuel prices. “For the moment, we have opted to administer these prices. This new system means that we will take into account various market parameters, both endogenous and exogenous. To cite only the parity of the dollar against the ariary and the changing fluctuations in the price of a barrel of oil from day to day. Everything will be done in a progressive manner,” maintains Jean-Baptiste Olivier, Minister of Energy and Hydrocarbons.
Eric Ranjalahy
