Imf Lending At Near-Record Level

International Monetary Fund (IMF)s lending in 1997 due to drawings by east Asian economies currently engulfed in a currency crisis rose close to the record 1995 level of $25 billion.

According to an IMF survey, the lending, of about $23 billion, was almost triple the level of 1996. These funds were all disbursed under stand-by arrangements.

The crisis-ridden Asian nations were not the sole recipients of IMF lending under stand-by arrangements.

Other countries requiring large disbursements included Argentina, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Romania, the survey said.

Disbursements under the extended fund facility increased slightly in 1997 and were dominated by drawings totalling $2 billion by Russia.

 

The survey said members receiving large ESAF (enhanced structural arrangement facility) included Pakistan ($154 million ), Tanzania, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

At the end of 1997, 58 member countries were implementing macroeconomic and structural programmes supported by IMF credits.

A total of $59 billion in IMF financing was committed as of the end of the year, of which $31 billion were not drawn, it added.