THE International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said it would unblock $12-million in aid to Sierra Leone, as the West African country achieved adequate results in its three-year poverty reduction plan. “Sierra Leone has made remarkable progress in advancing the peace process during 2001,” said Eduardo Aninat, the deputy managing director and acting chairman of the international lending agency’s executive board. Sierra Leone’s performance under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility arrangement lacked only in its achievement of the limit on net bank credit to the government, resulting in an IMF waiver being granted. “Failure to meet that performance criterion was due to a delay in the disbursement of external budgetary aid, which caused the authorities to resort to increased domestic financing,” the fund’s statement said. – AFP
Tuesday March 12, 2002