Chad: Statement By IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura At the Conclusion of His Visit to Chad

14 March 2023
International Monetary Fund (Washington, DC)
document

N'Djamena, Chad: Mr. Kenji Okamura, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today in N'Djamena at the conclusion of his visit to Chad:

"I wish to thank President Déby, Prime Minister Kebzabo, President of the National Transitional Council Kabadi, Minister of Finance and Budget Nguilin, and other senior officials for their hospitality, and parliamentarians and representatives of the private sector and the donor community for their engagement. I very much appreciated the constructive discussions I had during my visit, which allowed me to deepen my understanding of the challenges Chad is facing and to reiterate the IMF's commitment to support the authorities' efforts to surmount these challenges.

"I congratulated the authorities for the debt agreement that they reached with their official and private creditors late last year. The implementation of this agreement, which allowed for the conclusion of the first and second review under the ECF arrangement with the IMF in December 2022, is key to the authorities' efforts to ensure debt sustainability and financial stability.

"I welcomed the sustained commitment of the authorities to create the fiscal space necessary to address Chad's considerable social and investment spending needs. The streamlining of non-priority spending, including of regressive fuel and electricity subsidies, and reforms to strengthen non-oil revenue mobilization will be key in this regard.

"I was impressed by the dynamism of the students I met during my visit of N'Djamena industrial technical high school and would encourage further public-private partnerships to allow a vocational education of quality. This would help ensure employability of the young and the development of a nascent industry for a strong private sector-led growth.

"I also had have the opportunity to discuss with the authorities and other stakeholders the food security situation and the impact of climate change on the Chadian economy and how to alleviate their impact on the most vulnerable. IMF staff will continue this dialogue with the authorities and will notably start discussing in the second half of the year whether some support could be provided under the Fund's new long-term facility, the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, to help the country address climate change issues.

Useful link:

Staff report and press release on the first and second review of the Extended Credit Facility

Factsheet: The IMF's Resilience and Sustainability Facility

Read the original article on IMF.

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