Kyrgyzstan: EU releases EUR 15 million of its Macro-Financial Assistance

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC) i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 26 januari 2016.

The payment consists of EUR 5 million in grants and EUR 10 million in loans, and is the second and final part of a EUR 30 million MFA programme.

Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxations and Customs, said: "The EU is committed to supporting the stability, democratic transition and sustainable development of the Kyrgyz Republic. Macro-Financial Assistance provided by the EU helps Kyrgyzstan face the challenges of the difficult economic situation in the region."

The objective of this assistance is to support the restoration of a sustainable external financial situation for the Kyrgyz Republic, to alleviate its balance of payments needs and thereby support its economic and social development.

The first EUR 15 million in this MFA programme to Kyrgyzstan were disbursed in two instalments, EUR 10 million in grants on 11 June and EUR 5 million in loans on 15 October 2015.

In 2015, bilateral EU assistance to Kyrgyzstan amounted to a total of EUR 34.6 million in grants (including MFA and development assistance), the highest amount the European Union has ever disbursed to the Kyrgyz Republic.

Background

The assistance package for the Kyrgyz Republic was proposed by the European Commission on 20 December 2011 and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 22 October 2013 (Decision 1025/2013/EU).

The MFA supports the comprehensive economic adjustment and reform programme agreed between the Kyrgyz Republic and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the context of the three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility approved by the IMF on 8 April 2014. Following its first review mission completed on 29 September 2015, the Executive Board of the IMF concluded on 4 December 2015 that there is a continuous satisfactory track record of implementing this IMF programme.

Following the receipt of a compliance statement submitted by the Kyrgyz Republic on 13 November 2015 and the Commission's programme review mission of 17 to 19 November 2015, the Commission concluded in its evaluation that the Kyrgyz Republic fulfils the economic and financial policy conditions agreed with the EU in the Memorandum of Understanding.

Macro-Financial Assistance is an exceptional EU crisis response instrument available to EU's partner countries. MFA loans are financed through EU borrowing on capital markets. The funds are then on-lent with similar financial terms to the beneficiary countries.

More information on past MFA operations:

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu_borrower/macro-financial_assistance/index_en.htm

Detailed information on MFA for the Kyrgyz Republic:

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/international/neighbourhood_policy/kyrgyzstan_en.htm

More information on EU relations with the Kyrgyz Republic:

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/kyrgyz_republic/index_en.htm

IP/16/105

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