February 16, 2024
February 13, 2024: Mr. Kenji Okamura, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), visited the Republic of Suriname during February 10-13. During his visit, Mr. Okamura met with his excellency President Chandrikapersad Santohki, Vice President Hon. Ronnie Brunswijk, Chairman of the National Assembly, Hon. Marinus Bee, Minister of Finance Hon. Kermechend Raghoebarsing, Governor of the Central Bank, Hon. Maurice Roemer, the leadership of the National Assembly, senior government officials, and development partners. Following his visit, Mr. Okamura made the following statement:
“I am delighted to visit Suriname for the first time to see first-hand the progress that the country has made. I would like to thank President Santohki, Vice President Brunswijk, Finance Minister Raghoebarsing, Governor Roemer, and the Surinamese people for the warm welcome and hospitality.
“The government is implementing wide-reaching reforms to restore macroeconomic stability, address long-standing vulnerabilities, and put Suriname onto a path of sustainable and inclusive growth. This home-grown economic reform program is supported by the IMF through the Extended Fund Facility arrangement.
“During our meeting, President Santohki and I discussed Suriname’s economic opportunities and challenges. I congratulated the President for the strong implementation of policies and reforms under the program, which helped achieve the long-awaited macroeconomic stabilization. I stressed the importance of maintaining good policies and reforms to preserve these hard-won gains and improve medium-term growth prospects.
”I discussed with the authorities the need to maintain fiscal prudence to put debt on a firmly downward path and build resilience to future shocks. It is important to persevere with removing wasteful and inefficient subsidies, while at the same time expand social assistance programs so that the poor and vulnerable are protected. In that regard, there is an urgent need to address challenges and bottlenecks with the implementation of the social programs to ensure that social assistance reaches qualified beneficiaries in all the districts of Suriname.
“I also had the opportunity to discuss other important issues, such as public sector reforms, addressing vulnerabilities to corruption, and capacity development needs with senior government officials, the leadership of the legislature and development partners.
“We at the IMF, have a close working relationship with the Surinamese authorities and stand ready to help them in the period ahead in their efforts to help the country entrench macroeconomic stability, strengthen institutions and enhance future growth prospects.”