The International Monetary Fund announced in a statement Thursday that it had reached an agreement with the government of Kosovo with the aim of setting up an aid program worth 178 million euros in order to obtain "cash" for the energy transition and bear the consequences of global warming .

The statement said the fund's board of directors would ratify the agreement "probably at the end of May".

The assistance, which will be delivered according to the country's needs, will be provided through two of the IMF's instruments: the Standby Credit Agreement (SBA), which provides access to a line of credit in case of need of 100 million euros, and the Resilience and Sustainability Fund (RSF) of 78 million euros.

This fund allows the International Finance Corporation to lend money to help countries finance their energy transition and prepare them for the consequences of global warming.
The loans granted through this tool are long-term with a grace period of years.

"These agreements should help reduce risks and support Kosovo's efforts to promote macroeconomic stability and support greener growth," Gabriel De Bella, IMF Kosovo Mission Chief, said in a statement.

This country located in the Balkans recorded a growth of 3.5 percent in 2022 with an inflation rate exceeding 11 percent, higher than the European average, as is the case in most Central and Eastern European countries.

Kosovo's economy is expected to grow by 4 or 5 percent this year, with inflation slowing to 5 or 6 percent.

Kosovo continues to witness recurring tensions since November in the north of the country, where the bulk of the Serb national minority lives, which still refuses any allegiance to Pristina with encouragement from neighboring Serbia.

Serbia has not yet recognized the independence of its former province, Kosovo, which declared its independence in 2008, ten years after the end of the war between the Kosovars, mostly Muslims and Albanians, and the Belgrade government.

Kosovo's independence is still not recognized by more than eighty countries, including a number of European Union countries such as Spain, Greece or Romania.