## Equatorial Guinea: Promoting Inclusive Growth, Improving Governance and Transparency

_IMF News, December 18, 2019_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Equatorial Guinea: Promoting Inclusive Growth, Improving Governance and Transparency](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2019/12/13/na121319-equatorial-guinea-promoting-inclusive-growth-and-improving-governance-and-transparency)

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: December 18, 2019

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### Program overview
- The IMF has agreed a program with Equatorial Guinea worth around $283 million.
- Main objective: support the recovery of the country’s economy and promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
- Program type and duration: a three-year program under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
- Core emphasis: governance and anti-corruption reforms are at the heart of the program.

### Background and process
- The economy has been contracting for the past six years due to successive years of strong decline in hydrocarbon output and a contracting non-oil sector.
- The approval process took about 2½ years to conclude.
- The process began in mid-2017 and involved a staff-monitored program (SMP) agreed in 2018, which established a track record of policy implementation and opened the way to negotiations for the EFF-supported program.

### Focus and policy measures
- Macroeconomic and social objectives:
  - Strengthen macroeconomic and financial stability.
  - Improve social protection and promote human capital development.
  - Promote economic diversification and improve the business climate.
  - Increase space for social spending.
- Public finance measures:
  - Strengthen public finances by reducing inefficient spending.
  - Increase non-resource tax revenue.
  - Improve public financial management.
- Structural reforms:
  - Reforms required to support economic diversification and improve the business climate.
  - Measures to upgrade the anti-money laundering framework.
- Governance and transparency:
  - Implementation of a "Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Action Plan" adopted and published by the authorities.
  - Prior actions completed in advance of Board consideration included:
    - Application to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
    - Adoption and publication of an action plan to improve transparency and governance and fight corruption.
    - Establishment of a system to adequately track and control government spending.
    - Presentation to parliament of a budget for 2020 that is consistent with program targets.

### Anti-corruption and transparency measures (specifics)
- Adoption of an anti-corruption law covering conflicts of interest and asset declarations by senior public officials.
- Enhancements to enforcement and strengthening of international cooperation.
- Transparency measures consistent with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative standard, including:
  - Audits of state-owned hydrocarbon companies and their publication.
  - Regular publication of data and other relevant information on the hydrocarbon sector.
  - Publishing beneficial ownership information for companies established in Equatorial Guinea.

### Monitoring and conditionality
- IMF Board review schedule: semi-annual reviews by the Fund’s Executive Board.
- Completion of reviews will depend on program performance, notably the implementation, as agreed, of key governance and anti-corruption measures.
- The mission team will report regularly to the Fund’s Executive Board, which has taken a keen interest in the program given its governance focus.

### Fast Facts (as presented)
- Real GDP growth (2019): -5.9%
- Inflation rate Q3 (2019): 1.3%
- Population: 1.36 million
- Income per capita (PPP based): $19,513
- Human Development Index rank: 141
- Life expectancy at birth: 57.9
- Expected years of schooling: 9.3

*International Monetary Fund*

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## References

- [https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus](https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [Read the report](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2019/12/20/Republic-of-Equatorial-Guinea-Request-for-an-Extended-Arrangement-Under-the-Extended-Fund-48904)
- [Read the press release](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2019/12/18/pr19472-equitorial-guinea-imf-executive-board-approves-us-million-three-year-eff-arrangement)
- [Equatorial Guinea and the IMF](https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/GNQ)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2019/12/13/na121319-equatorial-guinea-promoting-inclusive-growth-and-improving-governance-and-transparency_