Washington, Apr 19 (IANS): South Sudan Wednesday joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when the country signed an IMF agreement here, Xinhua reported.
Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Kosti Manibe Ngai signed the IMF's Articles of Agreement.
South Sudan applied for membership of the IMF in April 2011. It became an independent country in July 2011, and the IMF Board of Governors subsequently offered it IMF membership.
"I am happy to welcome the Republic of South Sudan, which today (Wednesday) becomes our 188th member. South Sudan faces enormous challenges, and the IMF will do its best to assist the country in setting up the foundations for economic stability and growth in the period ahead," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde was quoted as saying in a statement.