The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says sub-Saharan Africa will continue to record robust and sustained growth underpinned by domestic demand.
In a joint statement yesterday, IMF managing director Christine Largade and acting chairman of the African Caucus, Ntahwa Kuderwa said North Africa would be affected by social and political changes in the region.
We agreed that growth is likely to remain robust in most sub-Saharan Africa, sustained by domestic demand and supportive macroeconomic policies.
We noted that in the near term, the economies of North Africa will continue to be affected by the uncertainties created by recent social and political changes in the region, they said.
Kuderwa and Largade said if growth was to remain robust, policies should focus on strengthening macroeconomic space.
However, if the above risks materialise, policymakers should stand ready to respond with the aim of preserving economic stability, growth and protecting the poor, they added.
Countries with fiscal space and contained inflation would be in a position to ease fiscal and monetary policy if global demand were to slow, but other countries may need to strengthen revenue collection and exercise expenditure restraint while seeking external financing to avoid an unduly sharp adjustment.
African central bank governors called upon IMF to assist African economies needing balance of payments support with appropriate levels of financing, using the most appropriate instrument from the funds expanded lending toolkit.
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In this regard, governors called on the fund to use the windfall profits from sale of gold to provide adequate resources to subsidise loans from the poverty reduction and growth trust to low-income countries, they said.
