Liberia continues to face substantial long-term development challenges. Resource constraints and substantial gaps in infrastructure and human capital have hindered Liberia's growth prospects and the authorities' efforts to improve living standards. Addressing these challenges will require...

Cabo Verde's recent strong economic growth is driven by tourism, exports, private consumption, and remittances, but hampered by slow government investment. The government has maintained macro-financial stability but faces risks from global uncertainties, supply chain issues, and commodity price...

Economic activity has slowed reflecting falling natural gas production, lower public investment execution, financial volatility, and disruptions due to socio-political tensions. Bolivia's inflation rate remains one of the lowest in the region, sustained by price controls and costly subsidies....

The Board approved Ethiopia's request for a four-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF arrangement) in July 2024 to support the authorities' Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda. The Fund-supported program addresses macroeconomic imbalances, aiming to restore external debt...

Niger remains trapped in high levels of fragility and conflict, which are exacerbated by climate shocks. This year, flooding combined with heavy rain affected more than 1.5 million people. The socio-political environment remains challenging. Political instability and sanctions following the...

The authorities have requested a three-month extension of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement set to expire on January 20, 2025. The three-year arrangement was approved by the Executive Board on January 21, 2022, with access of SDR 324.0 million (200 percent of quota). The extension...

The authorities have requested a new ECF-supported program, to deepen reforms undertaken under the previous program (completed in July 2024). They have also requested a program under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF)

This gap-filling paper provides granular advice on how to design quantitative and structural conditionality of IMF-supported programs in six expenditure policy areas: social assistance, energy subsidies, pension spending, health spending, education spending, and wage bill management. Such...

Recent developments. Haiti is facing exceptionally challenging circumstances. The deteriorating security environment, which reached crisis proportions in the first few months of 2024, has continued to worsen, disrupting supply chains (particularly energy and basic services) and feeding...

The authorities' commitment to a range of policy reforms continues to strengthen macroeconomic stability. The economy is growing, inflation is receding, donor support is increasing, the public debt is declining, and international bond spreads are at historic lows. The Final Investment Decision...

Following the shocks of recent years, fiscal expansion has helped preserve robust economic growth but has also pushed up Togo's public debt and contributed to vulnerabilities in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Further, despite the fiscal expansion, Togo's progress towards...

The Gambia hosted the 15th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in early May 2024-the second largest intergovernmental organization in the world. Economic recovery is strengthening, while inflation has trended down, albeit slowly. Despite strong revenue collection efforts, the...

On March 25, 2022, the IMF Executive Board approved a 30-month arrangement for Argentina supported by the Extended Fund Facility (2022 EFF). Amounting to US$44 billion (1,001 percent of quota), it was the second largest non-precautionary arrangement in the Fund's history after the 2018 Stand-by...

Tajikistan has continued to navigate the challenging external environment well. Real GDP rose 8.4 percent during January-September 2024, while inflation remained well-contained at 3.1 percent (y/y) in September. Robust remittances have boosted the external position, with FX reserves at more than...

The people of São Tomé and Príncipe (STP), a small fragile island state, have faced extraordinary challenges. STP continues to struggle with high fuel import needs, limited export potential, and depleted international reserves, and faced a massive balance of payments (BOP) shock in early...

Being indebted represents significant risks associated with global financial instability in a world where financial stability hangs precariously between debt and economic growth. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) casts a critical eye over countries navigating the perilous seas of fiscal...

The authorities' implementation of the home-grown Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT 2022) plan and their ambitious climate policy agenda remain strong, supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). Economic growth in 2024 has been...

Paraguay's economic activity remained strong in 2024. GDP growth is anticipated to reach 4 percent with some upward potential due to favorable performance of financial intermediation, services, and manufacturing. Inflation is firmly under control and expectations are well anchored. Monetary...

This program review is taking place as Ukraine approaches a critical juncture. Conditions of exceptionally high uncertainty remain as Russia's war in Ukraine continues. Amid continuing attacks on energy infrastructure, comprehensive efforts to prepare for the ongoing winter, including the...

The SBA has served as insurance against adverse shocks while guiding reforms to strengthen fiscal and financial governance and foster growth. The RSF has supported climate reforms to increase generation of renewable energy, boost energy efficiency, enhance regional cooperation, and strengthen...

The Mauritanian economy is expected to slow down in 2024 with a growth rate estimated at 4.6 percent (compared to 6.5 percent in 2023), reflecting sluggish extractive sector. Inflation is contained and the current account (CA) deficit is narrowing. The outlook is subject to significant risks,...

Costa Rica successfully completed its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience and Sustainability (RSF) arrangements in June. Growth remains robust, inflation continues to converge to the central bank's target from below, and international reserves are ample. While one-off revenue shortfalls...

Ecuador is making significant progress in the implementation of its economic reform program. The authorities have embarked on a set of decisive policy actions and reforms to address fiscal and external imbalances, supported by the 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement approved by the...

Benin's macroeconomic performance appears robust 2½ years into the EFF and ECF arrangements. There are promising signs of economic transformation, with higher value-added exports and momentum in information and communications technology and tourism. The 2025 budget-the last year of fiscal...

This paper presents the Republic of Moldova's Sixth Reviews under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility Arrangements, Request for Modification of Performance Criteria, and Second Review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility Arrangement. Recovery from the multiple...

Following the January 14 presidential election, President Azali announced a new cabinet in July, introducing several new and youthful faces into the political scene. Amid this political transition, Comoros' economy is showing signs of softening coupled with inflationary pressures driven by...

Guinea-Bissau continues to face a challenging economic and political environment. Recent downward shocks to cashew exports are adding pressures to the balance of payments and fiscal revenue. Tightening of regional financial conditions continue to raise borrowing costs. Since the political crisis...

Growth continues to recover from the impacts of the unfavorable global economic environment and domestic factors. Growth is expected to continue strengthening, supported by the implementation of the authorities' reform agenda, and subsiding global commodity prices. Inflation is projected to...

Zambia faces a severe drought, sharply reducing agricultural and electricity output and leading to extensive load shedding. In response, the authorities expanded social cash transfers to support affected households. Multilateral financing has eased fiscal and balance of payments pressures....

Economic activity remains strong but moderating as transitory trade, remittances, and capital flows peter out. The outlook is positive, with growth expected to reach 6.0 percent in 2024 and to converge gradually to its long-term rate. Inflation has picked up very slowly and is expected to remain...

Jordan continues to show resilience and maintain macro-economic stability, thanks to the authorities' sound macro-economic policies and reforms. However, as the conflict in the region continues and widens, it is having a larger impact on Jordan's economy than anticipated at the outset of the program

On March 22, 2023, the IMF Executive Board approved 38-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements with Papua New Guinea to help address a protracted balance of payments need, manifested in foreign exchange shortages, and to support the authorities' reforms...

This article examines a specific form of state capitalism in Egypt under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, characterized by the central role of the military in economic affairs. Following the events of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, the Egyptian military not only secured its position as a key...

This paper studies whether IMF programs and their size affect borrowing costs by comparing the coupon of bonds issued around an IMF arrangement. By comparing bonds issued immediately before the inset of the program with bonds issued immediately after the program, we show that, on average, the...

An important body of literature explores the political economy reasons underlying delays in macroeconomic stabilization. This paper develops a framework to analyze conflict between two groups of economic actors, one that has an endowment of internationally tradable goods and another that is...

Cabo Verde continues to recover well from recent shocks. The authorities have maintained macro stability and remain committed to the ECF and RSF objectives. Macroeconomic performance was strong in 2023 with real GDP growth at 5.1 percent, low inflation, and a prudent level of reserves to protect...

The authorities’ commitment to a range of difficult policy reforms is showing results in terms of macroeconomic stability and investor perceptions. The economy is growing, inflation is declining, donor support is increasing, and international bond spreads are at historic lows

After decades of rapid growth and improvements in living standards, a series of shocks led to severe economic pressures, and the public investment-led growth model has reached its limits. Domestic conflict, the pandemic, droughts, and spillovers from Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as...

The fourth review of a three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement (SDR 324 million, 200 percent of quota) was concluded on December 20, 2023. Economic growth momentum softened in 2023 as oil production surprised on the downside, which, together with the 2023-2024 floods, challenges in...

Burkina Faso continues to face significant challenges related to security and food insecurity and remains committed to addressing them. The authorities have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with Mali and Niger; while they decided to leave ECOWAS in January, they have since reaffirmed...

Political instability and sanctions following the military takeover last July have severely and persistently affected economic and social conditions. The security situation continues to exacerbate the country's fragility. While working on a new development strategy, the authorities have declared...