Press Release No. 14/290

Press Release: Statement at the Conclusion of a visit to the IMF by Mali’s Minister of Economy and Finance

June 18, 2014

Madame Bouaré Fily Sissoko, the Economy and Finance Minister of the Republic of Mali, headed a mission of the Malian authorities to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington D.C., from June 16 to 18, 2014. At the end of the mission, Madame Bouaré Fily Sissoko and Mr. Christian Josz IMF Mission Chief for Mali issued the following statement:

“Over recent weeks, staff of the IMF and of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Mali have held discussions on the recent purchase of an aircraft, a contract for the supply of goods other than arms and munitions entered into by the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and the issuance of a government guarantee for the amount related to the latter and other contracts.

“The purpose of the discussions was to ensure that public finance management in Mali is being conducted in a manner consistent with the quantitative targets and commitments to good governance of public finances undertaken by the government of Mali in the context of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement approved by the IMF Board on December 18, 2013 (See Press Release No. 13/524).

“Staff of the IMF and of the Ministry have discussed about certain public financial management weaknesses and identified concrete measures to address them. The measures include an audit of the above mentioned transactions by the Auditor General’s Office and the drafting of guidelines specifying the conditions for implementation of certain budget and procurement rules. The government of Mali has undertaken to implement these measures prior to the next IMF mission to Bamako scheduled to take place in September 2014. Discussions regarding the conclusion of the first review under the ECF arrangement will continue at that point, taking into account the results of the implementation of the above measures.

“Concluding the discussions on the first program review and reaching an agreement on a program of economic and financial policies for 2015 should facilitate a joint examination of the first and second reviews under the ECF Arrangement by the IMF Board before the end of this year.”