July 28, 2006 -- The Uruguayan authorities
have announced their decision to advance obligations to
the International Monetary Fund falling due through August
8, 2007 amounting to 619.9 million Special Drawing Rights
(SDR)*, (about US$916.4 million) as part of a cash management
operation. The prepayment will nearly halve Uruguay's outstanding
obligations to the Fund. All obligations due in 2006 were
advanced in a similar operation four months ago.
IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato, welcomed
the announcement and praised the Uruguayan authorities for
their economic management. "The Fund welcomes Uruguay's
decision, which is a reflection of a strengthened external
position and another measure of the success of the authorities'
program," he added.
Total drawings by Uruguay under the current
Stand-By Arrangement (see IMF
Press Release No. 05/136) amounted to SDR 766.3 million.
Following this early repayment, Uruguay's outstanding loans
with the Fund amount to about SDR 726.7 million, or about
US$1.1 billion.
More information on Uruguay
and the IMF is available on the organization's Website.
* The SDR is an international reserve
asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement the existing
official reserves of member countries. Its value is based
on a basket of key international currencies. SDRs are allocated
to member countries in proportion to their IMF quotas.
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