The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a three-year loan deal for Niger worth around 276 million dollars.
The IMF said on Thursday, warning that security risks threatened the West African nation’s economic outlook.
According to UN data, the decision allows the immediate disbursement of 55 million dollars to support basic infrastructure and social spending plans, desperately needed by the 10 million Nigeriens or 40 per cent of the population living in extreme poverty.
The Coronavirus pandemic slowed economic growth by over two per cent points to 3.6 per cent in 2020.
But the IMF forecasts a rebound to 5.4 per cent this year and increased momentum in the medium term with the start of oil exports via a new pipeline to the Atlantic coast in neighbouring Benin.
IMF Deputy Managing Director , Antoinette Sayeh, said in a statement that this broadly favorable outlook was however, subject to significant downside risks related to heightened security challenges in the Sahel region and Niger’s increased exposure to the effects of climate change.
He said that Niger lies in the semi-arid Sahel region, where armed Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State had destabilised swathes of territory in recent years.
They have carried out regular attacks that have killed thousands of people and displaced millions.
Niger ranks last out of 189 countries in the United Nations’ Human Development Index, which measures health, education and quality of life. (Reuters)
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