Above: Labadie (Photo: MT Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has completed the fourth review of Haiti’s performance under its Extended Credit Facility arrangement.

The decision, which was taken on a “lapse of time basis,” will enable the immediate disbursement of $7.4 million to Haiti. Total disbursements under the programme to date stand at $46.9 million.

The “lapse of time” basis describes situations when the IMF’s Executive Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening discussions.

Haiti’s Extended Credit Facility was approved on July 21, 2010, along with full relief on the country’s outstanding debt to the IMF of about $268 million.

The relief is part of the IMF’s strategy of supporting longer-term economic reconstruction plans in Haiti, following the January 2010 earthquake.

An IMF mission to Haiti last month found that the country’s economy “continues to grow,” with a projected GDP growth rate of between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent.

The mission called for an accelerated pace of reconstruction in Haiti at the conclusion of that visit.