Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) Marouane Abassi, called on the International Monetary Fund to provide specific mechanisms in the form of budgetary support and balance of payments assistance, in order to mitigate the impact of soaring international commodity prices (food and energy) on public finances and foreign exchange reserves in African countries, BCT said Friday.
The BCT governor was speaking at a virtual meeting between African finance ministers and central bank governors from the continent with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
The meeting focused on the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on African economies and possible measures to be undertaken by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to mitigate its impacts.
During this meeting, Abassi also deemed it essential to put in place specific mechanisms in the form of budgetary support and balance of payments assistance.
He considered it appropriate to further facilitate the conditions for loan granting by international financial institutions to countries that may fall into much greater vulnerability and poverty.
The objective was to prepare the next phase “more serenely”. Speaking about the energy transition, Abassi said that African countries must be further assisted in this direction, adding that the current situation has really shown that it is important to increase these investments.
The BCT governor also welcomed the IMF’s initiative to create a fund to help countries strengthen their resilience and sustainability, stressing, however, that the funds mobilised may fall short of expectations, notably because of access limits per country.
“Better and broader mobilisation of SDRs allocated to countries most in need is essential,” he emphasised, adding that “greater IMF engagement on longer-term programmes will help African countries address longer-term pressures on their balance of payments.”
The Governor also urged the Monetary Fund to extend its support to member countries in difficulty to help them overcome the crisis.
Regarding the countries currently negotiating a financing programme with the IMF, such as Tunisia, Abassi stressed that the process should be accelerated while integrating the particular situation in the negotiations with the donors.
«If it is necessary to assess the impact of this exogenous factor on the various sectors or macroeconomic and financial aggregates, this should not be an element delaying the negotiations,” he said.
