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IMF agrees Seychelles $26 million rescue package
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IMF agrees Seychelles $26 million rescue package
Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:21am EST
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By Richard Lough
PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has agreed a two-year $26 million rescue package for the Seychelles' deeply indebted economy, but the country's central bank warned on Saturday it would not be enough on its own.
The Indian Ocean archipelago, best known as a high-end tropical tourism destination but reeling from the global financial crisis, will receive some $9.1 million immediately.
"It is certainly not enough but the important thing is the IMF serves as a catalyst and will open doors to other donors to come in," Pierre Laporte, governor of the Seychelles' central bank, told Reuters by telephone from the capital Victoria.
Analysts predict a painful path to recovery while the central bank forecasts economic growth will slow to 3.1 percent this year, and possibly contract in 2009. The palm-fringed Indian Ocean islands have a population of just 85,000.
The Fund said late on Friday that it had approved the plan to support the Seychelles' "bold economic reforms," but that its disbursements would be subject to performance.
As part of its reform package, the government lifted long-standing currency exchange controls earlier this month, prompting a 48 percent slide in the value of the rupee.
The IMF said the authorities had made a good start, and it praised the archipelago for its commitment to far reaching measures aimed at tackling macroeconomic imbalances that have built up over years. But it said further steps were needed.
"Strong fiscal policy reforms, including the removal of tax exemptions and strengthening of public financial management, need to be sustained in order to secure substantial primary surpluses over the medium term," it said in a statement.
Laporte said the IMF funds would help consolidate the country's international reserve target of $19 million for the end of December: "We are already above that target. This immediate $9.1 will allow us to cement that reserve and maybe inject a little into the system," he said.
Finance Minister Danny Faure also hailed the Fund's move, but said the challenge was to stimulate a financial system that remains largely reliant on tourists from rich nations -- many of whose own economies are now on the brink of recession.
"The programme we have with the IMF is adjustable," Faure told Reuters in Victoria. "If, for example, tourism drops there is room to negotiate again."
(Additional reporting by George Thande in Victoria; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
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