CEMAC ended 2021 in a fragile external position, with gross reserves at only 2.7 months of prospective imports and net foreign assets (NFA) at their lowest level in decades, despite the availability of Fund financing, the SDR allocation, and monetary policy tightening. The terms of trade shock...

Namibia has been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic but has started to gradually recover. After a sharp contraction in 2020, with worsening fiscal imbalances and socio-economic disparities, a modest recovery began in 2021 and strengthened in the first half of 2022. Mining activity rebounded...

Following two years of COVID-19 challenges, Cameroon, the largest economy in the Central African Economic and Monetary Union (CEMAC), is facing a new policy environment. The nascent economic recovery from mid-2021, supported by higher oil prices and non-oil production, is now subject to greater...

The economic recovery is strengthening, as a successful vaccination campaign and recovery from COVID-related restrictions dominate headwinds from the worsening international economic environment. Growth is projected at 3.8 percent this year, rising to 5 percent in 2023 as the first liquefied...

This technical assistance (TA) mission on Government Finance Statistics (GFS) was conducted during July 6-12, 2022. The main purpose of the mission was to review the progress made by the authorities in implementing previous TA recommendations and provide further support to strengthen the...

Foreign exchange shortages together with exchange rate misalignment led to a sharp decline in imports including fuel, fertilizer, medicine, and food. Large fiscal deficits, nearly 10 percent of GDP in FY2021/22, have been largely financed by domestic bank borrowing, resulting in rapid money...

The economy proved resilient to Covid-19 and continued recovering in 2021, with growth estimated at 7 percent. Growth is forecasted to slow to 6 percent this year due to the war in Ukraine. Inflation increased to 4.2 percent last year, on the back of surging food prices, and is expected at 5.5...

Already battered by a still unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, Equatorial Guinea was struck on March 7 by massive accidental explosions at a military compound in Bata, its largest city, that killed over 100 people and caused widespread damage to surrounding neighborhoods. These shocks have adversely...

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a fragile state and vulnerable to recurrent shocks. Relations with the Fund have been quite active since early 2019, with a Staff Monitored Program (SMP) coupled with a Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) disbursement in December 2019 and a second RCF...