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Middle East and Central Asia > Mauritania, Islamic Republic of

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Staff Report for the 2024 Article IV Consultation, Third Review Under the Arrangements Under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility, Request for Modification of Quantitative Performance Criteria, and Second Review Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility Arrangement-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This paper presents Islamic Republic of Mauritania’s 2024 Article IV Consultation, Third Review under the Arrangement’s under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility, Request for Modification of Quantitative Performance Criteria, and Second Review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) Arrangement. The Mauritanian economy has remained resilient, with economic growth projected to slow to 4.6 percent in 2024. Growth is expected to remain favorable in the medium term. Enhancing revenue mobilization, strengthening banking supervision, and sustaining the implementation of the national governance action plan would support private sector-led inclusive growth. Program performance has been strong. Mauritania’s reform drive and sound macroeconomic management have helped strengthen debt sustainability and resilience to shocks, while creating policy space for pressing infrastructure and social spending. Continued implementation of the ambitious climate change adaptation and mitigation reform measures, supported by the RSF, will help address Mauritania’s medium- and long-term term challenges and catalyze additional financing.
Keywords:
government securities market; government action plan; cash transfer programs; government cashflow; article IV policy recommendation; Debt sustainability analysis; Global; Middle East; North Africa; East Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
The paper examines domestic revenue mobilization in Mauritania and proposes strategies to enhance tax revenue collection to address fiscal sustainability challenges and finance critical investment projects. Despite recent progress, Mauritania’s tax-to-GDP ratio remains below that of its peers, constrained by a complex legal framework, numerous derogatory tax regimes, and inefficiencies in revenue administration. The analysis indicates that Mauritania could increase tax revenues by up to 3.4% of GDP in the medium term, thus reducing its tax gap by one-third. Key policy recommendations include reducing VAT exemptions, replacing corporate tax exemptions with cost-based incentives, reforming the personal income tax system, broadening the consumption tax base, simplifying tax procedures, managing tax arrears more effectively, and strengthening tax compliance.
Keywords:
tax Potential; tax Effort in Mauritania; VAT revenue; revenue component; rates in Mauritania; Value-added tax; Corporate income tax; Tax administration core functions; Consumption taxes; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This Selected Issues paper analyzes key trends in the country’s existing financial sector and finds that while the Mauritanian banking sector is highly profitable, it fails to facilitate broader financial services and access, resulting in limited contribution to economic growth and inclusion. It also identifies the prevalence of family-owned banks, lack of trust, weak governance, and insufficient institutions as the major factors leading to these macro-level outcomes and discusses policies to address them and enhance financial sector development and boost inclusion. From a financial sector development perspective, Mauritania would be better off with a consolidated banking sector with stronger, more resilient institutions. Fewer universal banks with robust provisioning frameworks are better equipped to manage credit risks, thereby increasing their capacity to lend to a broader range of private-sector actors. From the institutional perspective, existing financial infrastructure institutions need to be strengthened and new ones need to be established. Forceful banking supervision with strong information systems can effectively monitor and mitigate connected lending practices among many family-owned banks.
Keywords:
bank Private-Sector; Efficiency-Access and Depth Gap; banks' provision; intermediation proxy; credit to GDP; Financial sector development; Financial sector; Credit; Financial inclusion; North Africa
Cover High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Customs diagnostic and needs assessment mission
Robert Kokoli
,
Mourad Arfaoui
, and
Genc Celi
The Ministry of Finance has developed the Public Finance Reform Master Plan 2021-2025 (SD-RFP 2021-2025), which aims to set strategic orientations for reforms and operational guidelines for their implementation over a five-year period. The masterplan includes objectives for the General Directorate of Customs (GDC) reform, focusing on revising customs law, enhancing revenue collection, and combating fraud.
Keywords:
Customs function; Customs automation; Customs procedures; Strategic management; Enforcement; Customs diagnostic; Needs assessment mission; customs law; post-clearance audit; Trade liberalization; Trade agreements; Post-clearance customs audit
Cover High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Technical Assistance Project on Public Debt Projections: Scoping Mission Report
Marie Pierre Aquino Coste
,
Naomitsu Yashiro
, and
Oumar Dissou
This document outlines the initiation and early stages of a Technical Assistance project designed to enhance the capacity of Mauritania's National Committee on Public Debt (CNDP) in the areas of public debt projection and analysis. Following a request from Mauritanian authorities, IMF ICD staff engaged in comprehensive virtual discussions with the CNDP's Technical Committee in September 2023. A subsequent mission to Nouakchott in January 2024 evaluated the existing capacity and resources at the CNDP for public debt projection and debt sustainability analysis. The IMF team proposed adopting the IMF’s Public Debt Dynamics Tool (DDT), customized for Mauritania's specific economic conditions. This recommendation aims to assist the CNDP in generating reliable medium-term debt projections and analyzing risk scenarios. These scenarios include the impact of natural disasters and explore fiscal adjustment strategies via the non-extractive primary balance to achieve targeted debt levels.
Keywords:
Public debt; debt management; technical assistance; IMF; dynamics tool; IMF ICD staff; IMF team; debt projection; debt dynamics analysis; Debt sustainability analysis; Government debt management; Macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts
Cover Technical Assistance Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Technical Assistance Report-Technical Assistance Project on Public Debt Projections and Analysis: Scoping Mission
International Monetary Fund. Institute for Capacity Development
This document outlines the initiation and early stages of a Technical Assistance project designed to enhance the capacity of Mauritania's National Committee on Public Debt (CNDP) in the areas of public debt projection and analysis. Following a request from Mauritanian authorities, IMF ICD staff engaged in comprehensive virtual discussions with the CNDP's Technical Committee in September 2023. A subsequent mission to Nouakchott in January 2024 evaluated the existing capacity and resources at the CNDP for public debt projection and debt sustainability analysis. The IMF team proposed adopting the IMF’s Public Debt Dynamics Tool (DDT), customized for Mauritania's specific economic conditions. This recommendation aims to assist the CNDP in generating reliable medium-term debt projections and analyzing risk scenarios. These scenarios include the impact of natural disasters and explore fiscal adjustment strategies via the non-extractive primary balance to achieve targeted debt levels.
Keywords:
Technical Assistance; Public Debt; Debt Management; IMF; Islamic Republic of Mauritania.; public debt projection; dynamics tool; projection framework; IMF resident representative; IMF mission team; Debt sustainability analysis; Macro-fiscal framework; Government debt management; Global
Cover High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Report: Mauritania: Tax Policy Diagnostic
Grégoire Rota-Graziosi
,
Thomas Benninger
,
Jean-François Brun
,
Emilie Caldeira
, and
Fayçal Sawadogo
The IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department has been working with Mauritania on capacity building in tax policy. Mauritania has recently created a tax policy unit and adopted a new General Tax Code in 2019 with a corporate income tax and a semi-dual approach to personal income taxation. However, there is significant scope to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of income taxes, including due to the proliferation of wasteful tax exemptions. The fast urbanization also calls for a review of recurrent property taxation. The formalization of property rights requires a temporary suspension of the excessive registration fees. Consumption taxation can also be improved by broadening the tax base, for example, by abolishing regressive value-added tax exemptions or by imposing excise taxes on imported used vehicles. Finally, several recommendations aim to support the reform of the Mining Code, such as introducing some progressivity, prohibiting the negotiation of any tax parameters, and strengthening the principle of ring-fencing.
Keywords:
direct taxation; indirect taxation; CIT; VAT; property tax; mining taxation; tax credits; tax policy diagnostic; consumption taxation; IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department; regressive value-added tax exemption; mining tax regime; Income and capital gains taxes; Corporate income tax; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This paper presents Islamic Republic of Mauritania’s poverty reduction and growth strategy. With the second Strategy for Accelerated Growth and Shared Prosperity (SCAPP) Action Plan 2021–2025, Mauritania is embarking on a new phase in the implementation of its three-five-year strategy to achieve the vision “The Mauritania we want in 2030.” Mauritania, through its commitment to the implementation of the SCAPP, marks its willingness to initiate a large-scale economic, social and environmental transition, on the path of inclusive growth, economic diversification, social cohesion, respect for fundamental rights and human dignity, peace and respect for the environment. The first Action Plan 2016–2020 demonstrated that the implementation of the SCAPP was able to record convincing results. However, some of the objectives could not be achieved, in particular because of the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, which severely affected the world economy, and therefore the Mauritanian economy, which resulted in the emergence of new priorities. This Action Plan 2021–2025 takes into account the lessons learned from the implementation of the first and implements the necessary measures to support the country in its economic recovery and respond to the decisive challenges of the next 5 years, which will be decisive in the preparation of the third Action Plan and the achievement of the 2030 Goals.
Keywords:
Ministry of petroleum; Ministry of hydraulics; ministry of Livestock; Ministry of employment; Ministry of communication; Ministry of equipment; Ministry of trade; Infrastructure; Global; West Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Second Reviews Under the Arrangements Under the Extended Credit Facility and the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for Modification of Performance Criteria and a Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion, and First Review Under the Arrangement Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This paper highlights Islamic Republic of Mauritania’s Second Reviews under the Arrangements under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), Requests for Modification of Performance Criteria and a Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion, and First Review under the Arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). In 2024, economic growth is expected to improve, while inflation has slowed down significantly. However, the economic outlook remains uncertain. Continued implementation of the programs under the ECF and EFF arrangements, and of the ambitious reform measures to address climate-related vulnerabilities, supported by the RSF arrangement will help address Mauritania’s medium- and long-term challenges and catalyze additional financing from donors and the private sector. End-March 2024 indicative targets for net international reserves, net domestic assets (NDA), new arrears and the present value of newly contracted debt were also met. December 2023 and March 2024 structural benchmarks (SBs) were met. IMF supports the authorities’ request for a modification of the NDA performance criteria for end-June to end-December 2024 from changes to levels, and a modification of two SBs related to governance reforms, in line with IMF technical assistance recommendations.
Keywords:
RSF arrangement; EFF arrangement; RSF reform measure; D. RSF; programs under the ECF; excess reserves; Credit; Fiscal stance; Global
Cover High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Climate Mitigation Policy Diagnostic
Diego Mesa Puyo
,
Zhiyong An
,
Thomas Benninger
, and
Nate Vernon
Mauritania requested capacity development from the Fiscal Affairs Department on carbon taxation, fossil fuel pricing and fiscal aspects of hydrogen development. This is a high-level summary of the technical assistant and the recommendations provided to the authorities. The report assesses options to gradually introduce a carbon tax to bring the country in line with its Nationally Determined Contribution for 2030 and net-zero pledge for 2050, including targeted support for vulnerable households. It then reviews approach to price fossil fuel products and proposes a revised methodology better aligned with international petroleum markets, along with a fiscally neutral smoothing mechanism to mitigate the impact of abrupt price changes on Mauritanian consumers. Finally, the report evaluates fiscal aspects related to the development of the low and zero-emissions hydrogen to ensure the country continues to position itself as an attractive investment destination without foregoing future revenue streams.
Keywords:
Carbon Pricing; Carbon Taxes; Fiscal Policy; Climate Mitigation; climate mitigation policy diagnostic; high-level summary; tax volatility; hydrogen development; price setting; Carbon tax; Fuel prices; Climate policy; Non-renewable resources