Burkina Faso: Selected Issues

IMF Staff Country Reports, January 22, 2019

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Burkina Faso: Selected Issues

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Bibliographic details

• Published: January 22, 2019
• Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484394311.002

Executive summary and key findings

• The Selected Issues paper examines Burkina Faso’s banking system and traces its macro-financial linkages.
• The analysis builds upon the macro-financial linkages work conducted in the context of the Article IV consultation with the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
• Overall assessment:
  • The banking system remains profitable and well-capitalized.
  • The banking system’s ability to support the real economy needs to be improved if the authorities are to reach their development goals.
• Financial inclusion and access to credit:
  • Financial inclusion remains low.
  • Despite recent progress on basic access to the financial system, significant barriers to accessing credit remain; particularly for women, rural inhabitants, and the agricultural sector.
• Systemic risks and operational environment:
  • Available data indicates the banking system remains well-capitalized and profitable.
  • Systemic risks remain broadly contained.
  • New banks have come into operation.
  • Deteriorating security conditions could undermine banks’ ability to expand into underserved remote areas.

Analysis focus and structural linkages

• Macro-financial linkages:
  • The paper traces macro-financial linkages, using prior work from the WAEMU Article IV consultation as the analytical foundation.
• Banking system performance:
  • Profitability and capitalization are highlighted as current strengths.
  • The capacity of the banking sector to finance development and support the real economy is identified as an area with significant scope for improvement.

Financial inclusion, access to credit, and distributional issues

• Access disparities:
  • Significant barriers to accessing credit for:
  • Women
  • Rural inhabitants
  • The agricultural sector
• Inclusion metrics:
  • The report emphasizes low overall financial inclusion despite improvements in basic access.

Risks, implications, and operational challenges

• Operational risks:
  • Security deterioration is noted as a material risk that could prevent banks from expanding into underserved and remote areas, thereby limiting both financial inclusion and real-economy support.
• System resilience:
  • Despite risks, systemic banking-sector risks are described as broadly contained.

Publication and metadata

• Publication title: Burkina Faso: Selected Issues
• Publication date: January 22, 2019
• Series: Country Report No. 2019/016
• Issue: 016
• Volume: 2019
• Pages: 27
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484394311.002
• Stock No: 1BFAEA2019002
• ISBN: 9781484394311
• ISSN: 1934-7685
• Citation example provided in source: International Monetary Fund. African Dept. "Burkina Faso: Selected Issues", IMF Staff Country Reports 2019, 016 (2019), accessed 8/28/2026, https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484394311.002

Subject areas and keywords

• Subject: Banking, Commercial banks, Consumption taxes, Credit, Financial inclusion, Financial institutions, Financial markets, Money, Revenue administration, Taxes
• Keywords: banking system to nonresident, Burkina Faso financial system, Burkina Faso's banking system, Commercial banks, Consumption taxes, CR, Credit, Financial inclusion, financial system indicator, GDP, Global, IMF staff estimate, income tax, ISCR, revenue mobilization, Sub-Saharan Africa, tax, tax revenue, VAT, West Africa

International Monetary Fund. African Dept. "Burkina Faso: Selected Issues", IMF Staff Country Reports 2019, 016 (2019).

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