Niger: Selected Issues

IMF Staff Country Reports, January 18, 2023

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Niger: Selected Issues

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Bibliographic details

• Published: January 18, 2023
• Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400229473.002

Overview

• Purpose: Provide an analytical underpinning for the policy recommendations of the 2022 Article IV Consultation with Niger.
• Scope: Addresses key development challenges and contributes to policy reflection to build resilience and address fragility across six chapters.

Chapter findings and analysis

• Chapter 1 — Efficiency of social spending
  • Social programs typically are not well targeted.
  • Significant coverage gaps exist.

• Chapter 2 — Gender equality and education
  • Explores the state of gender equality.
  • Estimates the macroeconomic gains from reducing gaps in education.

• Chapter 3 — Financial inclusion
  • Addresses the issue of financial inclusion (diagnosis and implications for policy).

• Chapter 4 — Climate and conflict shocks on household welfare
  • Examines the effects of climate and conflict shocks on household welfare.

• Chapter 5 — Economic effects of climate change and food insecurity
  • Uses simulations from a general equilibrium model.
  • Key simulation result: Cash transfers appear more effective than fertilizer subsidies at safeguarding households’ welfare, including nutritional status.
  • Highlights the need to reform agricultural fertilizer subsidy systems to improve targeting, efficiency, and sustainability.

• Chapter 6 — Export diversification
  • Discusses horizontal policies to promote export diversification.
  • Empirical results from panel regressions indicate that reforms to:
  • enhance human capital,
  • improve the quality of infrastructure,
  • promote digitalization,
  • remove barriers to trade, and
  • improve governance

are likely to yield the largest gains in terms of diversification for Niger.

Policy implications and recommendations

• Operationalize a better co-ordinated national social safety net system to address poor targeting and coverage gaps in social programs.
• Reform agricultural fertilizer subsidy systems to improve targeting, efficiency, and sustainability, given limited effectiveness relative to cash transfers in protecting welfare and nutrition.
• Pursue reforms that:
  • enhance human capital,
  • upgrade infrastructure quality,
  • promote digitalization,
  • remove trade barriers, and
  • improve governance

to promote export diversification and associated growth benefits.

• Strengthen financial inclusion measures to broaden access to financial services and support resilience.

Key statistics and publication metadata

• Pages: 102
• Volume: 2023
• Issue: 029
• Series: Country Report No. 2023/029
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400229473.002
• Stock No: 1NEREA2023002
• ISBN: 9798400229473
• ISSN: 1934-7685

International Monetary Fund. "Niger: Selected Issues", January 18, 2023.

Content in this bundle

• Niger: Selected Issues; IMF Country Report No. 23/29; December 6, 2022
  • Niger: Selected Issues; IMF Country Report No. 23/29; December 6, 2022 (Markdown version)
  • Niger: Selected Issues; IMF Country Report No. 23/29; December 6, 2022 (PDF)