Top IMF official meets Kiir

JUBA – The deputy chief of the IMF for African affairs Cathy Patillo this evening met President Salva Kiir Mayardit and informed the head of state that a high-level delegation of the global financial institution is visiting the world’s youngest country next week.

The meeting between Kiir and the visiting IMF official centered on financial needs of South Sudan in the face of the global inflation caused by the internationally-condemned Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a statement released following the meeting by the presidency.

“His Excellency President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Saturday received a courtesy call from International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation led by Cathy Patillo, IMF’s Deputy Director for Africa Affairs Department,” the presidency said in the statement seen by Sudans Post moments ago.

“The meeting attended by the Minister of Finance and Planning Hon. Dier Tong Ngor, and the Executive Director in the Office of the President Hon. James Deng Wal, centered on matters of public financial management and reforms in the Country,” it added.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Hon. Dier Tong Ngor Kiir has been informed by the IMF official that “a team of IMF experts will be visiting the country next week to meet with the financial institutions of the country to design social safety nets to protect vulnerable households.”

For her part, Patillo stressed the readiness of the international financial institution to “to extend necessary support to help South Sudanese government in responding to the global economic challenges such as food prices, inflation, and food security.”