KHARTOUM,
Sudan (PANA)- Sudan has restored its full membership in
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the Bretton
Woods institution suspended the country's membership in
1993 over debt repayment and inadequate economic reforms.
Sudan's state minister of
finance, Zubair Ahmed el Hassan, told reporters earlier
this month in Khartoum of the decision made at the
meeting in Washington of the fund's board by a majority
of 32 to 2 votes.
He said the two countries
that objected were the United States and Canada.
He lamented that the
Canada and US failed to give any economic justification
for their objection to the restoration of Sudan's
membership.
"The US and Canada's
position was political rather than economic," Hassan
maintained. He said the IMF decision would have a
positive bearing on Sudan's economy.
"This decision will
enhance Sudan's relations with all international finance
institutions and allow the country become part of the
current initiatives to resolve the problems of the highly
indebted countries," he added.
Recent finance ministry
reports put Sudan's external debt at $25 billion dollars
[US]. Out of this, the country owes the IMF about 1.2
billion dollars.
An agreement concluded in
1996 obliged Sudan to a monthly repayment schedule of
five million dollars.
Hassan said Sudan and the
IMF would soon consider the renewal of the
repaymentProgram.
He added the IMF was
convinced by the outcome of Sudan's economic reform
policy that achieved an annual growth rate of 6 percent
and brought inflation down to 8 percent after it
skyrocketed to over 100 percent in 1997-1998.
Nat'l &
International News
Community News
Entertainment
& Nite Life
Women-On-The-Go
Photo Gallery
Company History