State House, Freetown, Monday 4 November 2019 – New Mission Chief of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, to Sierra Leone, Ms. Karen Ongley, and its Resident Representative, Dr Monique Newiak, have met His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio to discuss further ways of partnership.
Presenting the IMF team at State House, Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa, thanked the President for making time to see them, adding that as protocol demanded it was proper that they met.
The IMF chief said that she was delighted to be in the country, adding that the measures and progress made so far had been very good. She noted that more important was the fact that Sierra Leone and the IMF had a really good partnership. She said she was impressed with the government’s strategy around innovation and digitalisation.
The IMF Resident Representative, Dr Newiak, said that it was an honour to meet the President and noted that she had wanted to be in Sierra Leone because she had heard so many good things, including reforms underway. She added that she was in the country to support the government in its reforms through partnership and collaboration.
In his response, President Bio said that Sierra Leone was genuinely committed to making progress economically and socially. He said his government was making efforts to surmount the challenges and for which he needed genuine partners. He assured that his government was willing and ready to partner and collaborate with the Fund to help achieve its goals.
The new IMF Mission Chief joined the IMF in 1998, bringing a wealth of experience to her role. She was previously Mission Chief for West Bank and Gaza and has worked on a range of low and middle-income countries, including Afghanistan, Albania, Egypt, Jordan, Nigeria and Yemen.
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