DUSHANBE, June 13, 2009, Asia-Plus — Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will travel to Central Asia for the first time when he visits Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan between June 15 to June 18, press release issues by IMF said.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn will meet with the authorities of the four Central Asia countries, as well as with parliamentarians, representatives of civil society, and academia. Mr. Strauss-Kahn will focus on how best the international community, including the Fund, can assist these countries in their response to the financial crisis. He will also underline the IMF”s commitment to supporting them. The global financial crisis and its impact on Central Asia will be the subject of a speech that he plans to deliver at the Government Academy in Kazakhstan and at the State Kyrgyz University in Kyrgyzstan.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn is visiting Astana, Kazakhstan on June 15, Dushanbe, Tajikistan on June 16, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on June 17, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan on June 18.
We will recall that the IMF Executive Board on April 21, 2009 approved a three-year, about US$116 million arrangement under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) for Tajikistan to support the authorities” economic program. The decision enables Tajikistan to draw the equivalent of about US$38.7 million from the IMF immediately.
The Executive Board also completed the final review under the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) and the 2009 Article IV consultation with Tajikistan.
Tajik authorities’ program aims to maintain financial and macroeconomic stability, while alleviating the economic impact of the crisis by adopting a flexible exchange rate regime, raising social and poverty-related expenditures, and laying the foundation for future growth. Resolute implementation of the program should lower the external current account deficit to a more sustainable level and restore growth rates.
