DUSHANBE -- Tajik National Bank chief Sharif Rahimzoda has said that the International Monetary Fund has approved a $120 million loan to Tajikistan to support the country's poverty-reduction program, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
The first $40 million of the loan has already been disbursed.
Rahimzoda said the loan will be used to maintain macroeconomic stability, decrease the large external current account deficit, build foreign-exchange reserves, and support the poor.
IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky says Tajikistan faces a "severe external shock that is being compounded by domestic rigidities."
Tajikistan's main exports -- cotton and aluminum -- have been affected by weak global demand and remittances from Tajik migrant workers have decreased sharply.
The IMF also welcomed Tajikistan's decision to publish a report on the Tajik National Bank audit detailing the misuse of hundreds of millions of dollars by bank officials.
The first $40 million of the loan has already been disbursed.
Rahimzoda said the loan will be used to maintain macroeconomic stability, decrease the large external current account deficit, build foreign-exchange reserves, and support the poor.
IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky says Tajikistan faces a "severe external shock that is being compounded by domestic rigidities."
Tajikistan's main exports -- cotton and aluminum -- have been affected by weak global demand and remittances from Tajik migrant workers have decreased sharply.
The IMF also welcomed Tajikistan's decision to publish a report on the Tajik National Bank audit detailing the misuse of hundreds of millions of dollars by bank officials.