Country Reports
2023
January 18, 2023
Niger: 2022 Article IV Consultation and Second Review under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement, and requests for a Waiver of Non-observance of Performance Criterion and Modification of Performance Criteria-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Niger
Description: Niger’s political landscape is broadly stable, but the country continues to face daunting development challenges against a backdrop of fragility, which are exacerbated by a decade of conflict in the Sahel and exposure to climate shocks. Low rainfall in 2021, pushed an estimated 4.4 million people into acute food insecurity this year. Russia’s war in Ukraine added to food, petroleum, and fertilizer price pressures. Economic growth is projected to accelerate from 1.4 percent in 2021 to 7.1 percent this year, driven by private investment and the recovery in agriculture. While debt vulnerabilities have increased, the updated DSA deems debt as sustainable, and the risk of external and overall debt distress is still rated “moderate”.
January 18, 2023
Senegal: Sixth Review Under the Policy Coordination Instrument and Third Reviews Under the Stand-By Arrangement and the Arrangement Under the Stand-By Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Senegal
Description: This paper focuses on Senegal’s Sixth Review under the Policy Coordination Instrument and Third Reviews under the Stand-By Arrangement and the Arrangement under the Standby Credit Facility. Weaker external demand, rising food and energy prices, tightening financial conditions, and the US dollar appreciation have negatively impacted the Senegalese economy. Moreover, multiple challenges are facing the country, including heightened regional insecurity and growing social demands amid soaring cost of living. Program performance was broadly satisfactory. All end-June 2022 performance criteria and two out of three indicative targets were met. Three out of nine structural benchmarks were implemented on time. Revenue collection through end- September was stronger than expected but soaring energy subsidies led the government to delay some investment projects. Spending pressures are mounting in 2023, making the much-needed fiscal consolidation more difficult. The authorities and staff agreed on a revised 2022 budget that maintains the fiscal deficit at 6.2 percent of gross domestic product, in line with the previous program review, through additional revenue measures and savings to offset larger energy subsidies.
January 18, 2023
Republic of Slovenia: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: Slovenia recovered quickly from the pandemic but Russia’s war in Ukraine is posing new challenges, especially the negative terms of trade shock. A center-left government took office in June, with a broad social and green reform agenda.
January 18, 2023
Republic of Türkiye: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: Türkiye’s recovery from the pandemic has been remarkable and reflects outsized stimulative policies and a dynamic private sector. But the same policies that buoyed growth also exacerbated vulnerabilities by lowering reserve buffers and increasing dollarization. A new policy model, introduced in the Fall of 2021, aims at further supporting growth and at lowering inflation by eliminating Türkiye’s current account deficit. The model relies on low interest rates and on measures to reduce dollarization, financial volatility, and overall credit growth, while directing lending to selected sectors. Successive policy rate cuts led to a run on the lira in December 2021, which was only relieved by large FX intervention and a new FX-protected deposit scheme. Since then, increasingly distortionary and complex macrofinancial and regulatory measures have been put in place to limit the lira decline. Meanwhile, inflation reached multi-decade highs, at 85 percent in October 2022. While Türkiye’s public debt burden is low compared to peers, fiscal risks have grown—notably from quasi-fiscal operations, contingent liabilities, and the exposure of public debt to FX shocks—and spending is expected to rise ahead of the upcoming elections. Spillovers from Russia’s war in Ukraine have added to Türkiye’s economic strains and have exacerbated external vulnerabilities, notably through a wider current account deficit.
January 18, 2023
Republic of Türkiye: Financial System Stability Assessment
Description: Türkiye’s bank-dominated financial sector has grown markedly and shown areas of resilience since the last Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). However, macrofinancial volatility has risen significantly, foreign investors have receded from local markets, and demand for dollarized and state-guaranteed foreign-exchange (FX) protected Lira deposits has risen alongside a deeply negative real policy interest rate set against the backdrop of rapidly tightening global financial conditions. An array of idiosyncratic measures has been deployed that attempt to offset the highly negative policy rate and achieve multiple objectives.
January 13, 2023
Lebanon: Technical Assistance Report on Putting Tax Policy Back on Track
Description: Lebanon’s tax revenue more than halved between 2019 and 2021, in the face of the deepest economic crisis since the end of the civil war. This report identifies tax policy reform options to stop the drain on Lebanon’s tax revenue in the immediate and near-terms and to move toward a more efficient, effective, and inclusive tax system in the medium-term.
January 12, 2023
Republic of Moldova: Second Reviews Under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility Arrangements, and Request for Waiver of Applicability for Performance Criteria-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Republic of Moldova
Description: Spillovers from the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued to weigh heavily on Moldova. Energy supplies have been disrupted, with significant impact on Moldova, given its dependance on Russia for gas, and on the breakaway region of Transnistria for electricity. The hardship from high energy and food prices and frequent anti-government protests are weighing on Moldova’s fragile social and political fabric.
January 12, 2023
Chad: First and Second Reviews Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement, Requests for Waivers of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria and Modification of Performance Criteria-Press Release; Staff Report; Staff Supplement; and Statement by the Executive Director for Chad
Description: Growth was weaker than expected in 2021, reflecting primarily production disruptions in the oil sector, while inflation remained subdued. The poor 2021/2022 crop year, severe floods and Russia’s war in Ukraine have exacerbated food insecurity and increased inflation in 2022. Security and social conditions remain difficult, while the political transition has suffered significant delays.