Press Release No. 04/176

Press Release: IMF Executive Board Grants Waiver on Noncomplying Disbursement to Uruguay

August 13, 2004

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)¹ has approved the granting of a waiver on a noncomplying disbursement to Uruguay of SDR 93.2 million (about US$138 million), which had been made by the IMF following completion of the fourth review under the Stand-By Arrangement, on February 20, 2004.

In May 2004, final fiscal data became available that showed that the end-December public sector primary surplus was Ur$8.65 billion (2.7 percent of GDP) and thus was smaller than the estimated figure, based on partial fiscal data, reported at the time of the fourth review. Under the IMF's Misreporting Guidelines (see Public Information Notice No. 00/28), a waiver on a noncomplying disbursement is normally granted if the deviation from the relevant performance criterion is minor or temporary, or subsequent to the purchase, the member has adopted additional policy measures appropriate to achieve the objectives supported by the relevant arrangement. In this case, the difference between the estimated and final data (0.1 percent of GDP) is minor and does not alter the assessment of the fiscal situation under the program. Accordingly, the Executive Board granted Uruguay's request for a waiver on the noncomplying purchase.