IMF extends new line of credit

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday that it was set to extend a new US $5 million line of credit to Djibouti as part of an ongoing eligibility plan agreed back in 1999. Under the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility project, Djibouti was granted a US $24 million credit of which it has so far claimed US $7 million. The new allowance comes despite IMF reservations over the delay in Djibouti's promised reform of its financial infrastructure. Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, Eduardo Aninat, said that despite this disappointment he was satisfied that Djibouti's leaders "have implemented a set of corrective measures to regain control of public finances," through budgetary reform of Djibouti's taxation and spending plans. Aninat warned however, that with high unemployment, slow economic growth and high levels of poverty, Djibouti would have to maintain high levels of fiscal discipline if "sound and lasting growth" were to be attained.