Country Reports
2019
December 20, 2019
Honduras: First Reviews Under the Stand-By Arrangement and the Arrangement Under the Standby Credit Facility, and Request for Modification of Performance Criteria-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Honduras
Description: This paper highlights Honduras’ First Reviews Under the Stand-By Arrangement and the Arrangement Under the Stand-By Credit Facility, and Request for Modification of Performance Criteria. Despite headwinds to growth and a challenging external environment, the Honduran authorities remain fully committed to the economic program supported by the IMF. They have maintained prudent macroeconomic policies—the fiscal position is in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Law, inflation is within the central bank’s target band, and the current account deficit has narrowed despite adverse terms of trade—and have taken initial steps on structural reforms to promote sustained, inclusive growth. Important measures to strengthen the governance and anti-corruption frameworks have been incorporated into the program, adding to the ongoing efforts to strengthen the institutional framework in the central bank and in public finances, and to improve the business environment. The authorities are expected to protect the revenue mobilization efforts made over the past years to reduce the infrastructure gap and increase social spending. These efforts seem to be critical to reduce poverty and inequality, while maintaining a prudent fiscal position that secures debt sustainability over the medium term.
December 20, 2019
Republic of Equatorial Guinea: Request for an Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Second Review Under the Staff-Monitored Program-Press Release, Staff Report, and Statement by the Executive Director
Description: This paper highlights Republic of Equatorial Guinea’s Request for an Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Second Review Under the Staff-Monitored Program. The IMF-supported program aims at maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability, while improving social protection, fostering economic diversification, strengthening governance and fighting corruption. The Equatoguinean economy has been impacted by a sharp decline in oil prices and a secular decline in hydrocarbon output, which led to large macroeconomic imbalances and negative economic growth. Increasing transparency, improving governance and fighting corruption are critical to improve socio-economic outcomes. Structural reforms are expected to play a crucial role in supporting fiscal consolidation and improving growth prospects. The program comprises reforms to the business environment and other reforms to promote economic diversification and support the achievement of sustainable economic growth. Program implementation remains subject to some downside risks, including volatility in hydrocarbon prices, and Public Financial Management (PFM), governance and corruption vulnerabilities.
December 20, 2019
Liberia: Request for a Four-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; Staff Statement; and Statement by the Executive Director for Liberia
Description: This paper highlights Liberia’s Request for a Four-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility. The program aims to support the authorities’ strong adjustment efforts, catalyze significant donor financing, and provide a framework within which to implement the authorities’ ambitious reform agenda. The authorities have demonstrated commitment by passing a credible budget for FY2020 that consolidates public finances, including by rightsizing the compensation of employees and implementing long-overdue comprehensive civil service reform, while protecting funds for critical social spending. The program also aims to catalyze substantial external support, which is critical to ensure that the programmed adjustment can be contained at levels that are politically and economically feasible while, at the same time, ensuring public and external debt sustainability. Ensuring financial sector stability is an important element of the program. Improving data reporting, obtaining an overview of the health of the banking system, and taking decisive measures as needed will help identify and address financial sector vulnerabilities. At the same time, enhancing the legal framework is important to ensure that the Central Bank of Liberia has the required instruments should remediation be necessary.
December 20, 2019
Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC): Staff Report on the Common Policies in Support of Member Countries Reform Programs-Press Release, Staff Report, and Statement by the Executive Director
Description: This paper highlights annual discussions on Central African Economic and Monetary Community’s (CEMAC) Common Policies in Support of Member Countries Reform Programs. Tighter macroeconomic and financial policies helped to avert a deeper crisis, and gross external reserves increased more rapidly in recent months, also helped by a stronger implementation of CEMAC foreign exchange regulations. Reforms to support a more diversified and inclusive growth, including by improving governance and the business climate, should gain momentum to make current efforts to buttress the external position of the region sustainable. The outlook for 2019 and beyond foresees further improvement in regional reserves assuming CEMAC countries remain committed to their program objectives and new programs with Cameroon, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea could start around end-2019.
December 20, 2019
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Government Finance Statistics Technical Assistance Mission (October 18-31, 2018)
Description: This Technical Assistance paper assesses Islamic Republic of Afghanistan government’s finance statistics (GFS). The mission updated the AFMIS bridge tables to enable producing Budgetary Central Government data according to the GFSM 2014 classifications including the economic (object) and functional classifications, reviewed government debt compilation, assisted developing bridge tables for extrabudgetary units, and provided hands-on training for GFS compilers in compiling the data for the general government. Despite good outcomes, the capacity for GFS compilation remains slim and securing support of the management remains critical for both maintaining the current achievements and further improving the government financial data consistent with the GFSM 2014 methodology. Afghanistan has made good steps toward further improving GFS and starting to provide supplementary accrual information, while there have been issues with the quality of the source data. The mission suggests that a GFS Technical Working Group should be set up to coordinate the GFS reforms, address the issues in applying the GFSM 2014 methodology, and advise the Ministry of Finance management on important matters requiring attention.
December 20, 2019
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan: Staff Report for the 2019 Article IV Consultation and the Sixth Review under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Description: This paper presents 2019 Article IV Consultation with Republic of Afghanistan and its Sixth Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement. Despite difficult circumstances, the Afghan authorities have continued to demonstrate strong commitment to the economic program supported by the Extended Credit Facility arrangement. Given the uncertain outlook dominated by downside risks, policies should focus on maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability and putting the conditions in place for stronger and more inclusive growth, led by the private sector. The authorities have made progress with their self-reliance agenda, yet strong financial support from donors is needed to help Afghanistan stay on the path to greater prosperity. Fiscal policy should continue to target a broadly balanced budget, supported by fair and sustainable domestic revenue mobilization and strong financial support by donors. Resources should shift toward pro-growth and pro-poor outlays and create fiscal space to meet the country’s considerable development needs.
December 20, 2019
Ecuador: Second and Third Reviews Under The Extended Fund Facility Arrangement and Request for a Waiver of Nonobservance and Modifications of Performance Criteria-Press Release and Staff Report
Description: This paper discusses Ecuador’s Second and Third Reviews Under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement and Request for a Waiver of NonObservance and Modifications of Performance Criteria. The Ecuadorian authorities have continued to make progress in strengthening the country’s fiscal and external positions and have appropriately recalibrated their economic program to include a more moderate fiscal consolidation and international reserves’ paths in response to recent developments and to protect pro-poor growth and social spending. Public financial management reforms are paramount to secure fiscal sustainability in the longer term. The reform of the central bank aimed at strengthening central bank autonomy, accountability, and governance will be instrumental in supporting the dollarization regime, boosting reserves, and ensuring their prudent management. Efforts to raise competitiveness should continue to focus on improving transparency, strengthening governance, increasing efficiency of the public sector, and creating conditions in the labor market to facilitate hiring and female participation.
December 19, 2019
Angola: Second Review of the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for a Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria, Modifications of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Angola
Description: This paper discusses Angola’s Second Review of the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for a Waiver of NonObservance of Performance Criteria, Modifications of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review. Angola continues to face a deteriorated external environment, which is weighing on the economic outlook. The Angolan authorities have maintained their commitment to the Fund-supported program despite a challenging external and domestic environment. The authorities’ commitment to fiscal consolidation has been illustrated by the outperformance of the end-June 2019 non-oil primary fiscal deficit target by a wide margin. Sustained fiscal discipline is needed to address debt vulnerabilities. The conservative fiscal stance is expected to continue in 2020. In order to ensure that gains from fiscal consolidation will be preserved in the medium term and to mitigate the elevated risks to debt sustainability, the authorities need to persevere with measures to mobilize non-oil revenue, strengthen public financial management, improve debt management, and bolster transparency and accountability of state-owned enterprises.
December 19, 2019
Vietnam: Technical Assistance Report-Report on the National Accounts Mission
Description: This technical assistance report on Vietnam discusses evaluation of revised estimates of gross domestic product, to ensure that the compilation process is aligned with the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) and that the methodology employed for estimation is consistent and coherent. This mission noted that the revisions follow recommendations of previous missions to implement the 2008 SNA to cover research and development and software will be treated as part of gross fixed capital formation. It is particularly important to conduct outreach to public and private data users to help them to understand the reasons for the revisions. Revisions to statistics are needed to consider changes in data sources and the economic structure. Revisions are a normal and expected part of national accounts compilation, reflecting additional information and new economic developments.
December 19, 2019
Zambia: Technical Assistance Report-Report on External Sector Statistics Mission
Description: This Technical Assistance Report on Zambia highlights the dissemination of external sector statistics during the Department for International Development—Enhanced Data Dissemination Initiative 2 Project Module 1. The mission recommended breakdowns in the International investment position (IIP) table that are of analytical relevance, such as government securities issued abroad and issued domestically, and loan liabilities of the government and other sectors. The integrated IIP is key to verifying the consistency between the positions, the transactions, and other changes. The accuracy of the components within the international reserves in the balance of payments and in the IIP can be further improved. Valuations changes in positions are being included in the balance of payments for some components, such as government external debt and reserve assets, and should be removed from transactions. In order to support progress in different work areas, the mission recommended a detailed action plan with several priority recommendations.