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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: 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 Working Papers
Personal Income Taxes in the Middle East and North Africa: Prospects and Possibilities
Mario Mansour
and
Eric M. Zolt
Personal income taxes (PITs) play little or no role in the Middle East and North Africa, often yielding less than 2 percent of GDP in revenue—with the exception of few North African countries. This paper examines how PITs have evolved in recent decades, and what they might look like in the next 20 years. Top marginal tax rates on labor and business income of individuals have declined substantially, a trend that mirrors reductions in advanced and developing economies. Taxation of passive capital income has changed very little, and the revenue intake from this source remains low throughout the region (less than 1 percent of GDP on average and concentrated in oil-importing non-fragile states). Social security contributions (SSC) have increased in importance in nearly all MENA countries, and some countries have introduced additional payroll taxes. The combination of reduced marginal tax rates, light taxation of income from capital and business activities, and increase of SSC, have resulted in income tax systems that create disincentives to work and incentives for informality, and contribute little to government revenue and income redistribution. Given differences in economic and political structures, demographics, and starting points, the path to PIT/SSC reforms will vary across the region. Countries with relatively mature PIT/SSC systems, where revenue performance has improved in the past two decades, will increasingly need to balance the revenue and equity objectives against effciency objectives (in particular labor market incentives and infromality). Countries with no PITs will have to weigh whether a consumption tax/SSC system that mimic a flat tax on labor income is sufficient to diversify revenue away from oil and whether to adopt PITs to address rising income and wealth inequality. Finally, fragile states, who face more political volatility and weaker fiscal institutions, will have to focus on simplicity of tax design and collection to be able to raise revenue from PITs.
Keywords:
Personal income taxes; social security contributions; payroll taxes; fragile and conflict states; Middle East and North Africa; Gulf-Cooperation Council; SSC reform; SSC system; revenue performance; PIT objective; PIT revenue; Personal income tax; Income tax systems; Income; Income and capital gains taxes; Corporate income tax; North Africa; Middle East; East Africa; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Designing Fiscal Redistribution: The Role of Universal and Targeted Transfers
Mr. David Coady
and
Nghia-Piotr Le
There is a growing debate on the relative merits of universal and targeted social assistance transfers in achieving income redistribution objectives. While the benefits of targeting are clear, i.e., a larger poverty impact for a given transfer budget or lower fiscal cost for a given poverty impact, in practice targeting also comes with various costs, including incentive, administrative, social and political costs. The appropriate balance between targeted and universal transfers will therefore depend on how countries decide to trade-off these costs and benefits as well as on the potential for redistribution through taxes. This paper discusses the trade-offs that arise in different country contexts and the potential for strengthening fiscal redistribution in advanced and developing countries, including through expanding transfer coverage and progressive tax financing.
Keywords:
WP; income; cost; earned income; taxation framework; consumption taxation; transfer program; income tax schedule; efficiency cost; poverty impact; redistribution objective; means testing; income share; public spending; income redistribution objective; progressive tax; poverty line; Personal income; Income tax systems; Fiscal redistribution; Income inequality; Middle East; North Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Global; East Africa; transfers; taxes; targeted; universal; income transfer
Cover IMF Working Papers
Optimal Reserves in Financially Closed Economies
Mr. Olivier D Jeanne
and
Mr. Damiano Sandri
Financially closed economies insure themselves against current-account shocks using international reserves. We characterize the optimal management of reserves using an open-economy model of precautionary savings and emphasize several results. First, the welfare-based opportunity cost of reserves differs from the measures often used by practitioners. Second, under plausible calibrations the model is consistent with the rule of thumb that reserves should be close to three months of imports. Third, simple linear rules can capture most of the welfare gains from optimal reserve management. Fourth, policymakers should place more emphasis on how to use reserves in response to shocks than on the reserve target itself.
Keywords:
WP; interest rate; opportunity cost; open economy; Official reserves; current account; precautionary savings; carry cost; cost-benefit approach; real rate of interest; welfare cost; level of reserve; Reserve positions; Imports; Reserves management; Exports; Income; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Public Investment, Growth, and Debt Sustainability: Putting together the Pieces
Mr. Andrew Berg
,
Mr. Rafael A Portillo
,
Mr. Edward F Buffie
,
Ms. Catherine A Pattillo
, and
Luis-Felipe Zanna
We develop a model to study the macroeconomic effects of public investment surges in low-income countries, making explicit: (i) the investment-growth linkages; (ii) public external and domestic debt accumulation; (iii) the fiscal policy reactions necessary to ensure debt-sustainability; and (iv) the macroeconomic adjustment required to ensure internal and external balance. Well-executed high-yielding public investment programs can substantially raise output and consumption and be self-financing in the long run. However, even if the long run looks good, transition problems can be formidable when concessional financing does not cover the full cost of the investment program. Covering the resulting gap with tax increases or spending cuts requires sharp macroeconomic adjustments, crowding out private investment and consumption and delaying the growth benefits of public investment. Covering the gap with domestic borrowing market is not helpful either: higher domestic rates increase the financing challenge and private investment and consumption are still crowded out. Supplementing with external commercial borrowing, on the other hand, can smooth these difficult adjustments, reconciling the scaling up with feasibility constraints on increases in tax rates. But the strategy may be also risky. With poor execution, sluggish fiscal policy reactions, or persistent negative exogenous shocks, this strategy can easily lead to unsustainable public debt dynamics. Front-loaded investment programs and weak structural conditions (such as low returns to public capital and poor execution of investments) make the fiscal adjustment more challenging and the risks greater.
Keywords:
WP; risk premium; Public Investment; Growth; Debt Sustainability; Fiscal Policy; Infrastructure; Aid; crowding in; real GDP; investment surge; rate of return; private sector; crowding out; capital stock; scaling-up scenario; growth linkage; Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP); Public investment spending; Africa; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Institutional Transformations, Polity and Economic Outcomes: Testing the North-Wallis-Weingast Doorsteps Framework
Mr. Marc G Quintyn
and
Sophia Gollwitzer
This paper tests the theoretical framework developed by North, Wallis and Weingast (2009) on the transition from closed to open access societies. They posit that societies need to go through three doorsteps: (i) the establishment of rule of law among elites; (ii) the adoption of perpetually existing organizations; and (iii) the political control of the military. We identify indicators reflecting these doorsteps and graphically test the correlation between them and a set of political and economic variables. Finally, through Identification through Heteroskedasticity we test these relationships econometrically. The paper broadly confirms the logic behind the doorsteps as necessary steps in the transition to open access societies. The doorsteps influence economic and political processes, as well as each other, with varying intensity. We also identify income inequality as a potentially important force leading to social change.
Keywords:
WP; open access order; government expenditure; political system; Gini coefficient; NWW transition framework; institutions; economic performance; political performance; transition; income inequality; open access society; Income inequality; Personal income; Corruption; Europe; Asia and Pacific
Cover Policy Papers
Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative - A First Assessment of Eligible Countries
International Monetary Fund
This paper responds to the Board’s request for an assessment of eligible countries that could qualify for Fund debt relief under the MDRI once the requisite consents and requests have been received. Directors requested that, by end-2005, staff prepare, in collaboration with the World Bank, an assessment of the 18 post-completion point HIPCs, as well as eligible non-HIPCs, and propose for Board consideration a list of members that would qualify immediately for MDRI debt relief. Directors also requested that, for those members that do not presently meet the MDRI qualification criteria, remedial measures be expressly identified that would allow them to qualify for MDRI relief.
Keywords:
PP; country; fund; HIPCs; MDRI qualification criteria; public expenditure management; PEM system; MDRI resource; system performance; MDRI decision; MDRI trust; MDRI relief; Debt relief; Poverty reduction strategy; Public and publicly-guaranteed external debt; Personal income
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Progress Report
International Monetary Fund
The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, whose implementation has now reached the second year, has been the key instrument in Mauritania's economic, social, and institutional development policy. The pursuit of policies to accelerate growth, maintain macroeconomic stability, and enhance the competitiveness of the economy have thus made it possible to attain an economic growth rate of about 3.3 percent notwithstanding an unfavorable international economic climate. Annual inflation has been contained at 4 percent.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; PRSP; governance; private sector; PRSP implementation; program; training; poverty-reducing program; transaction costs; quality control; targeted program; private sector representative; public policy; private sector consultation; poverty breakdown; standard of living; poverty pocket; reform program; Poverty reduction; Poverty reduction strategy; Poverty reduction and development; Income inequality; Global