Above: Kingston (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A proposed 48-month funding arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility for Jamaica would total $958 million, according to the International Monetary Fund.

That number is significantly higher than the $750 million initially mentioned in Jamaica’s staff-level agreement with the IMF.

The next meeting of the IMF’s Executive Board is expected to take place by the end of April, when the board will decide whether to approve the agreement.

“Since the conclusion of a staff-level agreement with the Jamaican authorities in February on an economic program that can be supported by the Fund, the authorities have submitted documentation to the IMF to confirm that all prior actions have been met,” the fund said in a statement Monday. “In addition, the fund has engaged with the authorities and its development partners on the financing for the program, including through important contributions from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank.”

The IMF said it “welcomes the progress that has been made in the implementation of the program thus far including the authorities’ efforts to complete the prior actions and structural benchmarks, and on the assembling of a financing package.”

“The success of this program crucially depends on full and timely policy implementation by Jamaica of a coordinated set of reforms, to strengthen the public finances, restore debt sustainability, enhance growth, and bolster the resilience of the financial sector,” the IMF said. “Recognizing the sacrifice involved for the Jamaican people, the strategy also aims to minimize the impact on the poorest and most vulnerable.”