IMF building
WASHINGTON, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday said that St. Kitts and Nevis had repaid, ahead of schedule, US$17.1 million in obligations to the Washington-based financial institution.
The IMF said the payment made on June 24, is about one fourth of the US$73.1 million that St. Kitts and Nevis borrowed from the IMF under its Stand-By Arrangement.
“This is the first time that a payment of this magnitude has been repaid early to the Fund by a Caribbean nation,” the IMF said, adding that the twin-island federation borrowed less than the total amount approved under the three-year arrangement, equivalent to US$84 million, as the authorities began to treat the arrangement as precautionary in March 2014, during the combined seventh and eighth review.
“The amounts repaid early are obligations falling due in 2014 and 2015 under the original repayment schedule.”
The IMF said the Denzil Douglas government should be commended for its “economic achievements under the programme.
“There has been a significant improvement in fiscal and debt sustainability and a strong economic recovery. St. Kitts and Nevis’ ability to repay the IMF ahead of schedule reflects the improvement in its macroeconomic balances that reflect both policy efforts and the strong inflows under the Citizenship-By-Investment programme”.
The Washington-based financial institution said that “this early repayment will reduce the outstanding obligations of St. Kitts and Nevis to the IMF to US$56 million or about 408 per cent of quota and reduce its debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio by about two per cent .
“This outstanding balance is projected to be repaid during 2014-2018,” the IMF added.
