ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA, May 22, 2017 – GIS: The IMF is reporting that Grenada’s performance during the last phase of the three-year structural adjustment programme remained strong.

The Washington based organization released a statement on Thursday saying authorities in St. George’s met all performance criteria and structural benchmarks for the sixth review.

Following the Executive Board’s discussion on Grenada, the IMF quotes David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair as saying the program’s core objectives of restoring fiscal sustainability, strengthening the financial sector, and setting the stage for sustained growth have been achieved.

“Going forward, the authorities should focus on advancing structural reforms that promote broad-based growth and lower unemployment, while adhering to the strengthened Fiscal Policy framework to secure debt sustainability,” said Lipton.

The IMF noted that the Keith Mitchell led administration has made significant progress in reducing the Debt-to-GDP ratio, which declined to 83.4 percent at end-2016 from 108 percent in 2013.

The IMF acting chair also reported that the balance sheet of the banking system in Grenada has been strengthened and financial stability has improved.

“The authorities should adhere to the new rules-based fiscal policy framework to meet medium-term debt targets and build up reserve buffers to help the country mitigate the impact of future shocks,” Lipton said.

“The next phase of reform calls for concerted implementation of the legislation passed during the program and follow through on the systems of accountability accompanying the fiscal framework to secure lasting success”.

As a result of the successful sixth and final review, the government will receive about 2.8 million US dollars bringing total resources made available to Grenada to about US $19.4 million.

Grenada’s economy grew by about 3.9 percent in 2016, reflecting strong construction activity and steady external demand for tourism services.