Hoefdraad to attend IMF meeting

Finance Minister Gillmore Hoefdraad on Thursday left for the United States of America to attend the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, DC. Minister Hoefdraad is expected to discuss the government’s efforts to put a stop to the nation’s economic decline. Minister Hoefdraad will also meet with bankers who issued a $550 million bond loan last year.

Hoefdraad will share good news with the IMF. According to the Finance minister, Suriname’s economy is recovering as inflation is dropping and the exchange rates are stabilizing. The government has also managed to pay its debts and the budget deficit is shrinking. “The budget deficit is low despite of what people are saying everywhere. We see that the economy is slowly recovering and we project growth next year. We will make it,” said Minister Heofdraad shortly before his departure. Suriname will reportedly stick to its decision to go on without the IMF. There is no need for a second portion of the $478 million loan that the IMF had put aside for Suriname. One of the conditions for the loan was that Suriname had to phase out the state subsidy for electricity. “We made it clear to the IMF that we wanted to phase out the subsidy our way. There is no need for any more bond loans.”

The government recently received the final report from Jacobs Consultancy, a U.S. firm that was hired to screen the Energy Company Suriname (EBS). One of the government’s goals with the screening is to gradually phase out the subsidies. “We will do it at our own pace.” The minister will also hold talks with delegations from the Islamic Development Bank, the Inter American Development Bank and the monetary authorities from the Caricom. “There will be meetings after meetings this weekend.”