Guinea reaches IMF staff deal for $439m loan

The International Monetary Fund has reached a staff-level agreement on a new $439 million loan program for Guinea, with approval by the IMF executive board expected to be considered in September.

The IMF said the more than three-year program is aimed at helping Guinea turn resource wealth into broader economic growth. The agreement followed talks in Conakry in June with Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah, the finance minister and other officials.

Guinea's mining sector is a major source of income and revenue, with bauxite among its main exports. IMF official Izabela Karpowicz said new mining projects created opportunities for higher growth and revenue mobilization.

Karpowicz said the proposed program would support resource management, investment in people and infrastructure, economic diversification and prudent macroeconomic policies.

Guinea's previous three-year IMF program, involving about $170 million in loans, ended in 2020. The country has about $202 million in IMF debt coming due over the next three years.

Army general Mamadi Doumbouya came to power in a 2021 coup and was elected president in December last year. His supporters and allied parties won more than 80 percent of seats in parliament in May elections. Under Doumbouya, several political parties have been suspended, protests have been suppressed, and many opposition and civil society leaders have been arrested, sentenced or forced into exile.