The authorities of Tajikistan have made one more attempt to receive a concessional loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the framework of the Extended Credit Facility program.
The press center of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) says the possibility of attraction of financial support for implementation of a new economic reforms program was discussed at a meeting of NBT Head Hokim Kholiqzoda and Tajik Finance Minister Faiziddin Qahhorzoda with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva that took place in the Swiss city of Bad Ragaz on July 3.
During the meeting, Tajik officials also made a proposal to restore the IMF Resident Representative Office in Tajikistan, according to the NBT press center.
The fact is that after the end of the term of the IMF resident representative in 2020, one resident representative was appointed for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan with residence in Tashkent.
It is to be noted that the negotiations on granting a concessional loan to Tajikistan under the new IMF program have been going on for several years.
The previous three-year program, under which the IMF provided Tajikistan with a soft loan worth more than US$160 million, was completed in July 2012.
The negotiations of the official delegation of Tajikistan with the IMF on the development of a new program under the above mechanism began in October 2015.
The Extended Credit Facility (ECF) provides financial assistance to countries with protracted balance of payments problems. The ECF was created under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) as part of a broader reform to make the Fund’s financial support more flexible and better tailored to the diverse needs of low-income countries (LICs), including in times of crisis. The ECF is the Fund’s main tool for providing medium-term support to LICs.
