Gabon: First and Second Reviews of the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for Waivers for Nonobservance of Performance Criteria, Establishment of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; Staff Supplement; and Statement by the Executive Director

IMF Staff Country Reports, July 8, 2022

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Canonical URL: Gabon: First and Second Reviews of the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for Waivers for Nonobservance of Performance Criteria, Establishment of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; Staff Supplement; and Statement by the Executive Director

This paper presents Gabon’s First and Second Reviews of the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for Waivers for Nonobservance of Performance Criteria, Establishment of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review.
Program implementation has been mixed amid pandemic-related disruptions.
A nascent economic recovery is underway, and the medium-term outlook is broadly positive amidst higher oil prices, but it remains subject to considerable uncertainty.
The war in Ukraine will affect the economy through higher food and fuel prices.
Expediting the design of well-targeted social safety nets is critical to providing adequate support to vulnerable households and strengthening social protection.

Medium-term outlook: broadly positive amidst higher oil prices.
Risks:
- Considerable uncertainty around the recovery.
- Spillovers from the war in Ukraine via higher food and fuel prices.
Social protection:
- Need to expedite design of well-targeted social safety nets to support vulnerable households.

Program implementation: mixed, affected by pandemic-related disruptions.
Structural reforms highlighted as paramount to achieve strong and inclusive growth:
- Address governance and corruption weaknesses.
- Enhance the banking sector.
- Implement an effective financial inclusion strategy.
- Improve the business environment.
- Strengthen the anti-corruption framework.
Expected outcomes of reforms:
- Address bottlenecks in the economy.
- Promote private investment.

Subject: External debt, Fiscal policy, International organization, Monetary policy, Public debt, Public financial management (PFM), Taxes
Keywords: Arrears, authorities' effort, budget to the parliament, financing assurances review, Fiscal stance, gas and mining taxes, Global, nationalities of beneficial owners, Oil, procurement contract