Gabon secures USD 100 mn IMF bailout

Gabon secures USD 100 mn International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, reported africanews.

Gabon secures USD 100 mn International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, reported africanews.

Gabon's economic growth is expected to rise to 2 percent in 2018 from 0.5 percent a year ago thanks to robust growth in agriculture, mining and logging, which enabled it to avoid a recession, the International Monetary Fund said.

The oil-dependent central Africa nation was forced to turn to the IMF for a bailout after oil prices slumped from 2014 to 2016. In return, it promised to carry out tough reforms, including deep spending cuts. Now economic activity is stabilizing, the IMF said a statement late on June 26

"Economic growth appears set to recover in 2018 and reach 2 percent, which is a more modest bounce back than previously expected," Alex Segura-Ubiergo, who led an IMF review mission to Gabon from June 13 to 25, said in the statement.

(With inputs from Reuters)