Press Release No. 26/025

Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the Article IV Consultation for Suriname.[1] The authorities have consented to the publication of the Staff Report prepared for this consultation.[2]

GDP growth is slowing, driven by a decline in gold production. Having made important earlier progress to restore macroeconomic stability, fiscal and monetary slippages in 2025 reduced cash buffers, weakened the currency, and increased inflation back to double digits. The increase in gross debt to an estimated 106 percent of GDP is mainly due to a successful liability management operation. The current account deficit is estimated to have exceeded 30 percent of GDP due to offshore oil field investment imports mostly financed by FDI.    

Non-natural resource growth is estimated to reach 4.7 percent in 2026, supported by positive oil-related sentiment. Oil field development and relatively stable gold production are expected to support growth of around 4 percent until 2028, when offshore oil production is expected to push growth to around 30 percent.  

Downside risks include policy slippages, which have the potential to adversely affect macroeconomic stability. Over a longer horizon, the potential for further developments of offshore oil and gas fields represents a material upside risk.

Executive Board Assessment[3]

Executive Directors welcomed the progress achieved under the Fund‑supported program, concluded in March 2025, while noting that recent fiscal and monetary slippages have eroded earlier stabilization gains at a time when Suriname approaches a pivotal transition to large‑scale oil production. Against this backdrop, Directors underscored the need for renewed commitment to prudent and credible macroeconomic policies, strengthened institutions, and enhanced governance to safeguard macroeconomic stability and support inclusive growth. Technical support from the Fund and other development partners will be important to support their policy endeavors and, in this regard, a number of Directors supported the authorities’ request for a long‑term macro‑fiscal expert (LTX).

Directors underscored that improving the fiscal balance is essential to contain foreign‑exchange and inflationary pressures and rebuild buffers. While recent liability‑management operations provide some liquidity in the short‑term, Directors agreed about the need for significant fiscal adjustment in 2026 to underpin stability. They encouraged measures to raise the primary surplus while safeguarding priority investment in human capital, including by resuming electricity subsidy reductions, restraining the wage bill, broadening the tax base and improving tax administration through digitalization.

Directors highlighted that strong institutions are crucial for effective management of the prospective oil wealth and urged full and timely implementation of the recently passed public financial management and Sovereign Wealth Fund legislation to ensure transparent management of mineral revenues.

Directors emphasized that monetary policy should be firmly oriented towards maintaining price stability and recommended bringing reserve money to target through open‑market operations. They supported plans to transition to a new monetary policy framework and encouraged efforts to enhance the central bank’s capacity. Noting the importance of exchange rate flexibility, Directors recommended limiting FX interventions to a narrow definition of disorderly market conditions.

Directors called for enhancing financial sector resilience, by assessing and promoting stronger bank risk‑management practices, and stepping up supervisory monitoring, including nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs).

Directors underscored that governance reforms will be crucial to transparently channel oil revenues. They called for amendments to the anti‑corruption law, operationalization of the procurement law, and further strengthening of the AML/CFT framework. Directors also emphasized the need to strengthen the oversight of SOEs and enhance data collection.

Directors looked forward to close engagement between the authorities and the Fund under the Post Financing Assessment framework.

It is expected that the next Article IV consultation with Suriname will be held on the standard 12‑month cycle.

 

Table 1. Suriname: Selected Economic Indicators

Proj.   2024 2025 2026 (Annual percentage change, unless otherwise indicated   Real sector       Real GDP 1.7 1.5 3.9 o/w Non-Natural Resource Real GDP 4.1 4.4 4.7 Nominal GDP 14.8 19.2 19.1 Consumer prices (end of period) 10.1 13.0 9.7 Consumer prices (period average) 16.2 9.5 12.3 Money and credit       Broad money 9.3 15.2 14.2 Private sector credit 16.0 34.0 14.7 Reserve money 10.1 23.6 16.3 (In percent of GDP, unless otherwise indicated Central government       Revenue and grants 26.9 28.2 27.5 Of which: Mineral revenue 10.9 10.5 10.5 Total expenditure 1/ 29.3 38.2 32.8 Of which: central bank recapitalization   5.4   Overall Balance  (Net lending/borrowing) -2.4 -10.0 -5.4 Primary Balance 1/ 0.3 -6.3 -0.1 Primary Balance (excl central bank recap) 0.3 -1.0 -0.1 Deposits at Central Bank 9.2 3.4 2.7 Central government debt 88.0 106.3 96.2 Domestic 14.4 18.0 17.6 External 73.6 88.3 78.6 External sector       Current account balance 0.2 -34.3 -48.1 Capital and financial account -2.5 -31.5 -51.0 Memorandum Items       Gross international reserves (US$ millions) 2/ 1,373 1,311 1,458   In months of imports 6.4 3.5 3.1 Escrow Account (US$ millions)   851.9 680.9 Exchange rate (SRD per USD, period average) 33.05 … … Sources: Suriname authorities; and IMF staff estimates and projections.       1/ Expenditure includes central bank recapitalization of 9,381 Million SRD.       2/ Excludes banks’ ring-fenced reserves.

 

 

[1] Under Article IV of the IMF's Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country's economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

[2] Under the IMF's Articles of Agreement, publication of documents that pertain to member countries is voluntary and requires the member consent. The staff report will be shortly published on the www.imf.org/Suriname page.  

[3] At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country's authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here: http://www.IMF.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.