IMF Staff Country Reports

Mauritania was one of the countries to reach the completion point under the enhanced Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. The revised fiscal, balance of payments, and monetary data, including data on commercial banks, revealed that the main program parameters were missed by large margins. In 2003–04, progress in structural reforms was slower than planned, and major weaknesses surfaced in fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate management. Executive Directors welcomed the authorities’ intention to gear medium-term spending plans toward poverty reduction.