[IMF - Mauritania] Executive Board Approves 100 Percent Debt Relief Under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative

from all Africa

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved today 100 percent debt relief for Mauritania under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) amounting to SDR 32.9 million (about US$49 million), including SDR 2.7 million (about US$4 million) of assistance remaining under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The Board's decision brings to 21 the number of countries that have received 100 percent relief from the IMF under the MDRI, and the total amount of relief granted by the Fund under the initiative to SDR 2.54 billion (about US$3.67 billion).

Mauritania has implemented all the remedial actions that were required for MDRI qualification, including the resolution of data issues, six months of satisfactory macroeconomic performance, and remedial actions in the areas of budget formulation, execution, and reporting (see Press Release No. 05/308).

"Mauritania has made important strides since last autumn, including the resolution of data issues and the implementation of reforms in the management of public finances, prominently in the context of oil revenues and the tracking of social expenditures," said IMF Deputy Managing Director Agustín Carstens, who chaired the Executive Board session on Mauritania. "These are steps that will help Mauritania reach its ambitious poverty-reduction targets under the Millennium Development Goals. For our part, the IMF is supporting the government's efforts through sweeping debt relief."

The purpose of the MDRI is to accelerate eligible countries' progress towards the Millennium Development Goals by providing relief on their eligible debt to the IMF and by ensuring that the corresponding resources are allocated to poverty reduction (see Public Information Notice No. 05/164).