US $20 million IMF loan

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on Wednesday a US $20-million disbursement to Cameroon under a three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility arrangement. The new credit comes as the IMF expressed "broad satisfaction" at the implementation of the first phase, which ran in 2001. The new money will allow the Cameroonian government to consolidate gains made last year and improve performance in areas such as taxation, public expenditure management, governance and the legal system so as "to help foster investor confidence and prevent a possible deterioration of the financial health system", the Fund said on Wednesday. Cameroon's three-year poverty reduction programme, which totals US $139 million, was approved on 21 December 2000. So far, the country has drawn $40 million.