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IMF Grants $174m Emergency Loan to South Sudan

IMF Grants $174m Emergency Loan to South Sudan
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IMF Grants $174m Emergency Loan to South Sudan

IMF Grants $174m Emergency Loan to South Sudan

The IMF has approved $174 million (148 million euros) in emergency assistance to South Sudan, the country's central bank governor said Thursday, as floods and depressed oil prices rattle its economy.

South Sudan ran out of foreign exchange reserves last year as oil prices fell sharply due to the coronavirus pandemic, depriving the fragile government in Juba of much-needed revenue and sending its currency into freefall.

Devastating flooding has deepened the economic pain and magnified a humanitarian crisis in the world's youngest country, which is enduring its worst levels of hunger since independence a decade ago.

Central Bank Governor Dier Tong Ngor said the loan would help correct "distortions" in exchange rates and pay overdue wages to public servants.

"We have agreed with the IMF that half the amount will be used for budget support to pay salary arrears, and the other half will remain with the central bank" to cover urgent balance of payment needs, he told reporters.

The money would be repaid without interest under the terms agreed with the IMF, he said.

South Sudan is emerging from five years of civil bloodshed that left 380,000 dead and shattered its economy, which is almost entirely dependent on oil.

When it split from Sudan to the north in 2011 following a decades-long war of secession, it took over three-quarters of the oil reserves.

But years of civil conflict after independence, including for control of key oil fields, deprived the country of vital income and the chance to diversify its economy.

The coronavirus pandemic drove oil prices sharply downward, gutting state coffers for a fragile new unity government that took office in February 2020 at the end of a tortured peace process.

In August, the government announced it was out of foreign reserves and unable to pay its civil servants.

The following month President Salva Kiir sacked the finance minister, the head of the tax authority and the director of the state-owned petrol company as inflation soared and the economy teetered.

Corruption and mismanagement are also often blamed for South Sudan's economic troubles.

There are few other sources of foreign currency to prop up the ailing pound, which has freefallen in value and is traded at two different rates.

Ngor says the bank was working "to unify the official exchange rate with the market rate".

South Sudan's economy is forecast to contract by 4.2 percent in the 2020/2021 fiscal year, the IMF said on Tuesday, predicting a modest recovery for the 2021/2022 fiscal year as oil prices climb.

It is the second loan extended by the Washington DC-based lender since South Sudan gained independence from Sudan.

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PIF Anchors State Street’s Newly Launched Saudi Equity ETF

Officials from PIF and State Street IM (Saudi PIF)
Officials from PIF and State Street IM (Saudi PIF)
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PIF Anchors State Street’s Newly Launched Saudi Equity ETF

Officials from PIF and State Street IM (Saudi PIF)
Officials from PIF and State Street IM (Saudi PIF)

The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and State Street Investment Management (State Street IM), one of the world’s largest asset managers, launched on Thursday the State Street Saudi Arabia Enhanced Active Equity (SAQL) with PIF as anchor investor.

The fund actively invests in equities of companies in Saudi Arabia using a quantitative multi-factor stock selection model, PIF said in a statement.

SAQL has its primary listing on the Xetra exchange in Germany and is cross listed on the LSE in the United Kingdom, where a bell ringing ceremony was held. The fund will be available to investors in both markets as well as investors across other key markets in Europe, the statement said.

The investment marks another step in PIF’s strategy to further deepen and diversify the Saudi capital market by attracting international capital flows, empowering financial institutions, broadening financing options for the private sector and introducing new products.

The newly launched fund is the second State Street IM ETF in which PIF has made an anchor investment, and the fifth ETF investment for PIF across nine global markets with leading international asset managers. New and innovative Saudi-focused products were listed in Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Italy and Singapore.

“PIF is further strengthening Saudi Arabia’s capital market ecosystem, working with our partners to open gateways for international investors, enable access and drive global capital inflow into the country,” said Deputy Governor and Head of MENA Investments at PIF Yazeed Al-Humied.

“Our continued partnership with State Street IM reinforces a shared commitment to enhance and diversify the product range, to present new opportunities for international investors into the Saudi market and unlock capital pools,” he said.

“The launch of this ETF further deepens the Saudi market and builds on a series of PIF-anchored ETF listings across international markets, cementing PIF’s role in driving increased product diversification to enhance liquidity and fulfill market needs,” Al-Humied added.

Chief Executive Officer of State Street Investment Management Yie-Hsin Hung praised Saudi Arabia’s "success story," adding: “At State Street, as with PIF, innovation is in our DNA and we’re pleased to offer a new product in this same vein, drawing on our decades of experience and commitment to quality to underpin an exciting new offering, anchored by PIF.”

Quantitative funds, such as SAQL, use mathematical modeling, algorithmic, and data-driven methods to manage portfolios. The Saudi capital market has evolved beyond legacy sectors, with maturation of market structure and data quality – enabling SAQL to use a systematic active approach when investing in Saudi equity securities.

SAQL provides an opportunity for international investors to obtain investment exposure to this rapidly evolving economy.

The fund is registered for sale in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

Business

Morocco’s Inflation Rises to 0.9% in March

People stand looking across the river at the skyline in the coastal city of Rabat on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
People stand looking across the river at the skyline in the coastal city of Rabat on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
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Morocco’s Inflation Rises to 0.9% in March

People stand looking across the river at the skyline in the coastal city of Rabat on April 20, 2026. (AFP)
People stand looking across the river at the skyline in the coastal city of Rabat on April 20, 2026. (AFP)

Morocco's annual inflation, measured by the consumer price index, rose to 0.9% in March from -0.6% a month earlier, the statistics agency said on Wednesday.

Food prices, ‌the main ‌driver of ‌inflation, ⁠rose 0.6% from a year ⁠earlier, while non-food inflation increased 1.1%.

Core inflation, which excludes more volatile goods, rose 0.6% year-on-year ⁠and 0.1% month-on-month.

The ‌rise ‌in fuel prices following ‌the Iran conflict ‌led the Moroccan government to reintroduce subsidies for professional transporters, including taxis, buses ‌and trucks, to keep prices stable.

Fuel subsidies, ⁠along ⁠with aid to keep electricity and cooking gas prices stable, would cost the government 1.6 billion dirhams ($170 million) monthly, the minister in charge of the budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, said.

Business

Strait of Hormuz Blockade Drives up Costs at Panama Canal

Aerial view of the One Contribution container ship sailing under the Tokio flag as it enters the Panama Canal in Panama City on April 21, 2026. (EPA)
Aerial view of the One Contribution container ship sailing under the Tokio flag as it enters the Panama Canal in Panama City on April 21, 2026. (EPA)
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Strait of Hormuz Blockade Drives up Costs at Panama Canal

Aerial view of the One Contribution container ship sailing under the Tokio flag as it enters the Panama Canal in Panama City on April 21, 2026. (EPA)
Aerial view of the One Contribution container ship sailing under the Tokio flag as it enters the Panama Canal in Panama City on April 21, 2026. (EPA)

The war in the Middle East has boosted demand to move vital cargo through the Panama Canal to such an extent that one vessel carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) paid $4 million to skip the line and avoid a wait that can take up to five days, according to an official report.

A surge in such payments has been recorded since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began February 28, which led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas exports from Gulf countries.

To meet fuel demand, Asia's refineries are choosing to buy oil or gas from the United States and ship it through the transoceanic waterway instead of purchasing from Gulf countries who rely on the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports from the Panama Canal Authority.

The average number of ships passing through the canal on a daily basis has "remained strong," the authority told AFP in a statement Tuesday, with 34 ships in January and 37 ships in March. Some days exceeded 40 transits.

"The increase reflects changes in global trade patterns and market conditions, including geopolitical factors affecting key routes," the authority said.

Ships transiting the canal book their passage well in advance, and ships without bookings wait an average of five days to get through, but there is an auction where last-minute transits can be purchased.

The most recent auction included a $4 million bid for an LNG vessel, and in recent weeks two oil tankers exceeded bids of $3 million, the authority said.

Past average auction prices between October and February stood at around $130,000, and rose to $385,000 in March and April.

Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, and its main users are the US and China. The route primarily connects the US East Coast with China, South Korea and Japan.

In the first half of the 2026 fiscal year, which runs October to September, the Panamanian waterway recorded passage of 6,288 ships, a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percent, according to official figures.