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IMF reaches accord with Mali to revive aid after row over spending
Visitors are silhouetted against the logo of the International Monetary Fund at the main venue for the IMF and World Bank annual meeting in Tokyo, October 10, 2012. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
26/09/2014
BAMAKO (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has reached an agreement withMali that could restart aid to the West African nation after it was suspended by IMF and the World Bank earlier this year, a head of mission to the country said on Thursday.
The Bretton Woods institutions halted nearly $70 million in financing after the IMF expressed concern in May over Mali's purchase of a $40 million presidential jet and inflated spending on military supplies.
"We have reached an agreement to move forward," Christian Josz told a news conference in the Malian capital Bamako. "We are in a position to recommend that the IMF board of directors conclude the first and second review programmes."
Josz said an audit had revealed over-billing of 29 billion CFA francs ($56.55 million) in the military contract and other shortcomings in the awarding of the contract.
"Mali is now committed towards transparency. It is up to the government to implement the recommendations of the various reports and identify perpetrators of the over-billing," Josz said.
The IMF, which helps countries with policy advice and also sometimes lends to help with balance of payment difficulties, reached an agreement with Mali on new spending rules and also on the amendment of Mali's 2014 budget to correct the over-billing.
Mali secured over $4 billion in donor pledges last year to rebuild after twin crises in 2012. In the first, Malian soldiers ousted the president, and in the second, a mix of separatist and al Qaeda-linked rebels seized the country's desert north.
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