Frequently Asked Questions on Côte d’Ivoire

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Côte d’Ivoire sustained record growth in the past decade but faced consecutive global shocks that widened the budget and current account deficits, straining public finances and regional reserves.
Financing constraints and a balance of payments need arose amid low tax revenue relative to other low-income and developing countries and large social priority and investment spending requirements to pursue transformation toward upper-middle income status.
The IMF Executive Board approved a 40-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement to address these needs.

IMF Executive Board approval: SDR 2.6 billion (about US$3.5 billion) under a 40-month ECF/EFF arrangement.
Immediate disbursement: SDR 371.7 million (about US$495 million).
Remaining financing: to be disbursed in six equal tranches every six months, following program reviews approved by the IMF Executive Board.
Program objectives:
- Meet pressing financing needs and preserve macroeconomic stability.
- Safeguard debt sustainability and maintain a favorable risk of debt distress rating of public and external debt at moderate.
- Anchor the National Development Plan (NDP) in key structural reforms to support transformation toward upper-middle income status.

Fiscal consolidation target: converge fiscal deficit to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) deficit target of 3 percent of GDP by 2025.
Baseline fiscal position: fiscal deficit stood at 6.8 percent of GDP at end 2022.
Revenue mobilization commitments and projections:
- Front-loaded increase in tax revenue of 1.1 percent of GDP during the first year of the program.
- Additional increases in tax revenue of 0.5 percent of GDP between 2024 and 2026.
- Re-instatement of the petroleum pricing mechanism in early 2023 expected to help recover VAT tax revenues on petroleum products of about 0.7 percentage points of GDP lost in 2022.
Policy approach: revenue-based fiscal consolidation focused on building a simpler, more broad-based and equitable tax system and further improvements in tax administration.
Public financial management reforms will continue to boost dividends from recent tax administration reforms.

Program commitment: protect critical social spending in education and health.
Subsidy reform: phase out wasteful blanket subsidies (notably indirect tax subsidies on fuel products) and replace them over time with better targeted social assistance in the form of cash transfers to the most vulnerable.
Monitoring and safeguards:
- Program will monitor targeted social spending in social protection, education, health, and youth employment, as well as overall pro-poor spending.
- A minimum floor to protect such spending is set as an indicative target under the program.

Program supports the authorities’ agenda to build resilience against climate change.
Authorities expressed interest in IMF financial support from the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
Authorities requested significant technical assistance to inform RSF design, notably on Climate Public Investment Management (C-PIMA) and green Public Financial Management (PFM).
Design sequencing: after completion of TA engagements and the World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR), IMF staff will work with authorities to design a comprehensive strategy to strengthen climate resilience.
The resilience effort will build on the authorities’ “Abidjan Legacy programme” launched in May 2022.

IMF will provide Technical Assistance to help develop a medium-term revenue mobilization strategy, expected to be adopted by cabinet and published by May 2024.
Continued technical support is anticipated for tax administration, public financial management, climate-related investment planning, and AML/CFT reforms.