Press Release No. 13/542

Press Release: IMF Executive Board Approves Three-Year, US$41.6 Million ECF for Burkina Faso and US$3.9 Million Disbursement

December 27, 2013

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a new three-year arrangement for a total amount of SDR 27.09 million (about US$ 41.6 million, or 45 percent of quota) under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Burkina Faso. The approval enables an immediate disbursement equivalent to SDR 2.55 million (about US$ 3.9 million). The Board’s decision was taken on a lapse of time basis.¹

Building on the success of the authorities’ program supported by the Extended Credit Facility arrangement that expired on December 23, 2013, the successor program will continue to support the authorities’ efforts towards fiscal sustainability, macroeconomic stability and a broader distribution of the dividends of high growth.

The Executive Board discussed Burkina Faso’s request for the successor three-year arrangement under the ECF at its meeting of December 16, 2013 (See Press Release No. 13/517), when it completed the seventh and final review of Burkina Faso’s economic performance under the ECF arrangement approved in June 2010.

¹  The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse-of-time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.