South Sudan joins IMF, becomes 188th member

The Republic of South Sudan today April 18, 2012 officially joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a statement from the multilateral Fund has said.

This was after South Sudan’s Finance and Economic Planning Minister Kosti Manibe Ngai signed the IMF’s Articles of Agreement at a ceremony in Washington D.C., according to the statement.

South Sudan applied for membership of the IMF in April 2011 and the Fund’s Board of Governors subsequently offered it membership.

“I am happy to welcome the Republic of South Sudan, which today becomes our 188th member,” the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a statement.

The country gained independence in July 2011.

South Sudan’s initial quota in the IMF is SDR 123.0 million (about $189.3 million) which will make Fund members’ quotas amount to SDR 238.12 billion (about $366.53 billion)., the statement indicated.

A member’s quota in the IMF determines its capital subscription, its voting power, its access to IMF financing, and its allocation of SDRs.

By Ekow Quandzie