Press Release No. 18/408

IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement with Mali on Tenth Review under ECF Arrangement

November 5, 2018

• The Malian authorities and IMF staff have reached a staff-level agreement on the tenth review under the ECF.
• 2018 GDP growth is supported by solid agricultural production and projected to remain robust at about 5 percent.
• Over the medium term, the authorities are encouraged to step up their efforts to create space for infrastructure investment and social spending.

A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Boriana Yontcheva, visited Bamako from October 24 to November 3 to hold discussions on the tenth review of Mali’s economic and financial program supported by the IMF under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF).

At the conclusion of the discussions, Mrs. Yontcheva issued the following statement:

“The Malian authorities and IMF staff have reached a staff-level agreement on the tenth review under the ECF, subject to approval by IMF management and Executive Board. Consideration by the IMF’s Executive Board is tentatively scheduled for December 2018.

“2018 GDP growth is supported by solid agricultural production and projected to remain robust at about 5 percent. Projected inflation is expected at about1.9 percent, below the regional ceiling.

“Program implementation for the first half of 2018 was broadly satisfactory. Most quantitative performance targets for end June 2018 were met. The large shortfall in domestic revenues was offset by a reduction in public spending as the authorities commendably met their deficit target. Tax revenues are projected to fall short of the December 2018 government target by 1 percent of GDP. In addition to implementing remedial tax administration measures to redress revenues, the authorities are also planning to cut substantially lower priority domestically financed capital expenditure and non-wage current spending to meet the target of the 2018 deficit. Several structural reforms have been implemented including notably as regards governance improvement, as the target of transmission of asset declarations by senior officials was met by a large margin. However, the oil price formula was not consistently implemented and the reform on raising the eligibility threshold for investments benefiting from tax exemptions has been delayed.

“The 2019 draft budget is consistent with achieving the WAEMU fiscal deficit target of 3 percent of GDP. Achieving this target will require boosting revenue collection in a context of persistently high oil prices and challenging security conditions.

“Over the medium term, the authorities are encouraged to step up their efforts to create space for infrastructure investment and social spending. This will require steadfast implementation of reforms to enhance tax administration, improve the effectiveness of the mining sector taxation and bolster revenues from petroleum products, as well as improve public financial management, including through more efficient public investment and stronger debt management.”

“The staff team would like to thank the authorities, various stakeholders, and technical staff for their support and constructive discussions.”

The team met with H.E. the President of the Republic, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, the Prime Minister, Mr. Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Dr. Boubou Cissé and other members of the Government, the National Director of the Central Bank of West African States, Mr. Konzo Traoré, senior government officials, trade unions, civil society organizations, representatives of the private sector and development partners.