Ethiopia on verge of getting another IMF loan

International Monetary Fund staff and Ethiopia's government have reached agreement on the second review of the country's $3.4 billion financing programme, the IMF said on Wednesday.

The East African country secured the programme in July, hours after it followed one of the IMF's key recommendations and floated its birr currency.

Upon completion of the review by the IMF's Executive Board, Ethiopia will have access to a disbursement of roughly $251 million, the IMF said in a statement.

"Ethiopia's economic reform programme, including the transition to a market-determined exchange rate, continues to advance well," the statement said.

'Prudent policy'

"With macroeconomic stability supported by prudent policy and a so far muted FX reform impact on inflation, conditions for economic growth in the period ahead appear promising."

The first programme review, which focused on aspects like foreign exchange reserves and external debt, was agreed with staff in September and approved by the board last month.

After unusually fast reviews of Ethiopia's programme to date that were aimed at closely monitoring the impact of reforms including the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market, the IMF is now moving to a six-month review schedule.

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