South Africa borrows from the IMF for the first time since apartheid

ALTHOUGH IT ISANCIMFANCIMFIMFIMF rarely shy about spending other people’s money, the African National Congress (), South Africa’s ruling party, has long been wary of the . After Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994 the fund practically begged to help his new government. Mandela eventually saw the potential benefits of a cheap loan. But the rejected the offer.Opposition to the has remained a shibboleth of the party. Yet on July 27th South Africa said it had agreed to a $4.3bn loan from the . The deal signed by South Africa, one of 78 countries to have received covid-19-related help, is not a standard programme and thus does not have stringent conditions. But the need for it nevertheless reflects the extent of the country’s underlying economic problems.