IMF approves Mali loan

The International Monetary Fund is giving war-torn Mali a vote of confidence with an emergency loan of 18.4 million dollars (€13.6m).

The fund’s board approved the loan yesterday as the impoverished country tries to recover from an Islamist insurgency.

The loan comes two weeks after France began a military operation to oust radical Islamists from the country’s northern half.

The militants seized the territory more than nine months ago in the wake of a military coup in the capital of Bamako.

Following the coup, the IMF suspended a 46.3 million-dollar (€34.4m) loan approved in 2011 that was intended to be disbursed gradually through 2014.

The IMF says Mali faces a budget shortfall of 110 million dollars (€81.7m) despite a recent austerity plan. The fund says it hopes international donors will step up.