Washington, United States, 28 Sept – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday in Washington it had approved a US$353 million loan to Angola, under the terms of the standby agreement (SBA) between Luanda and the international financial institution.

With this new loan, the total provided to Angola by the IMF is now US$882.9 million, the IMF said in a statement.

Approval was given on 24 September by the IMF executive board, in which the second and third reviews of Angola’s performance were assessed, under the terms of the economic programme.

The SBA agreement, which was approved in November 2009, outlines a pay out of US$1.32 billion over 27 months.

The programme aims to help the country deal with the effects of the international economic and financial crisis, which in 2009 led to a fall in economic growth and Angola’s foreign reserves.

The new loan is being provided despite two quantitative targets outlined in the agreement not having been met, relating to the accumulation of late domestic and foreign payments, the statement noted.

According to Murillo Portugal, the assistant director of the IMF, Angola need to “rigorously” apply the programme for reducing outstanding debts, and the “strengthening of governance and institutional practices of the Bank of Angola,” are another reform that the IMF considers to be a priority. (macauhub)