Comoros is a small, fragile island state (population: 850,000) with persistently low and shock-prone growth. The last Article IV Consultation (completed in early 2020) assessed Comoros' fragility as arising from two vicious circles: economic fragility manifests in low fiscal revenue,...

A remote technical assistance (TA) mission was conducted by IMF's Regional Technical Assistance Center for Southern Africa (AFS)1 during April 12-16, 2021 to assist Statistics Botswana (SB) in improving the quality of the national accounts statistics. Reliable national accounts are essential for...

Since the early 1990s, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made significant progress in opening their economies to external competition through trade and currency liberalization. This paper analyzes trade and policy developments for 22 countries in eastern and southern Africa, looks at...

Madagascar continues to be severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. After a contraction of GDP estimated at 7.1 percent in 2020, the economic recovery has been sluggish, partly reflecting a delayed reopening of the economy. Postponement of some external budget support, following delays in...

The RBZ is in the process of recommencing on-site examinations, but due to COVID-19 operational restrictions, these will need to be undertaken remotely. The RBZ has developed a draft remote examination framework document to guide this work and requested AFS assistance to review the framework,...

A 9-month Staff Monitored Program (SMP) combined with a disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) of 50 percent of quota (about USD 174 million) was approved on March 30, 2021 to address BOP challenges and build a track record towards an upper credit tranche financial arrangement. This...