Kagame’s New Times Presented The Good News From IMF’s Report But Ommitted The Bad News

By David Himbara

General Paul Kagame’s New Times took from the IMF report only the good news but left out the bad news. For example, the New Times celebrated the IMF’s projection of economic growth of around 8 percent, over the next 2–3 years. But the IMF report gave a gloomy picture of Rwanda’s economic performance. Three negative things are indicated by the IMF are — 1) Rwanda had a large budget deficit because of delayed donor money; 2) imports outstripped exports; 3) exports of traditional crops such as tea and coffee dropped. This is how the IMF explained the situation:

“The FY2018/19 fiscal deficit was higher than expected, due to the timing of budget support disbursements, as well as accelerated execution of externally financed projects. The current account deficit widened, as expected, reflecting stronger demand and more capital goods imports that are needed for construction. At the same time, prices for traditional exports dropped…”

Dear New Times, evidently, your propaganda has no limit — that’s all you are capable of. Economic analysis is foreign to you and to the regime you serve.