Sao Tome and Principe is a fragile, small island-state, with limited resources and capacity. The last Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement expired at end-2018 having gone off-track amid parliamentary elections, power outages, internal and external imbalances, and high debt vulnerability....

The economic outlook has deteriorated since the First Review. Real GDP is expected to contract in 2019, driven by lower-than-expected oil production. Disinflation is expected to halt, inter alia because of increases in regulated prices. Beyond 2019, lower oil prices and slower recovery in oil...

A fragile state, Guinea-Bissau has maintained robust growth at around 6 percent for the past three years despite a political crisis that led to multiple changes of government and absence of a functioning parliament for most of the period. A recent consensus-based appointment of a new Prime...

Lower oil prices since 2014 placed the Angolan economy under stress. The authorities initially reacted to the oil price shock with significant fiscal tightening and exchange rate adjustments coupled with foreign exchange quantitative restrictions. The policy mix in the run-up to the August 2017...

The macroeconomic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa continues to strengthen with higher growth, easing inflation, and stabilizing public debt ratios with some countries improving their fiscal balances. But there are concerns on the quality of the fiscal adjustment and underlying vulnerabilities...

The economic recovery in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to continue, but at a slower pace than envisaged in October 2018. This weaker outlook reflects domestic and external challenges. On the external side, the global expansion is losing momentum, including in China and the euro area, trade...

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll on Sao Tome and Principe. Tourist arrivals came to an abrupt halt in mid-March, externally financed projects are being delayed, and international supply-chains are disrupted. The challenging circumstances are further affected by the fragility of the...

The pandemic is taking a heavy toll on the fragile island nation of Sao Tome and Principe. Tourist arrivals came to an abrupt halt in mid-March, externally financed projects are being delayed, and supply shipments are disrupted. In response to the local outbreak, emergency confinement measures...

Sub-Saharan Africa is struggling to navigate an unprecedented health and economic crisis-one that, in just a few months, has jeopardized decades of hard-won development gains and upended the lives and livelihoods of millions