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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: 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 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 IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Fifth Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement, and Request for Augmentation of Access-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.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impose severe social and economic hardships in Mauritania, with a sharp contraction of output expected in 2020. The authorities have responded swiftly to the shock with measures to contain the pandemic and alleviate its fallout. They are prioritizing health spending and targeted support to the most vulnerable households and sectors in the economy. Nevertheless, conditions have weakened since the emergency disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility in April 2020 (SDR 95.68 million, about US$130 million or 74.3 percent of quota) and wider external and fiscal financing gaps are projected.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; SDR; IMF's executive board; response plan; debt; authority; financing gap; key interest rate; IMF's support; COVID-19; Credit; Fiscal stance; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility-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 focuses on the Islamic Republic of Mauritania’s Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility. The economic and social impact of the pandemic is rapidly unfolding, with a contraction of output expected in 2020. The authorities have responded swiftly with measures to contain the pandemic and alleviate its fallout. Going forward, prioritizing health spending and targeted support to the most vulnerable households and sectors in the economy remains critical. The authorities are committed to full transparency and reporting of resources deployed for the emergency response, to audit crisis-mitigation spending once the crisis abates, and to publish the results. At the same time, they remain committed to the economic reform program supported by the ongoing ECF arrangement with the IMF. The program aims at using the fiscal space to increase priority spending on education, health and social protection and infrastructure, while mobilizing domestic revenues and maintaining prudent borrowing policies to preserve debt sustainability.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; financing; center; RCF fund; financing gap; grant financing; commodity export; emergency support; Credit; Fiscal stance; COVID-19; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Third Review Under the Extended Credit 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 discusses Islamic Republic of Mauritania’s Third Review of Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility. The program aims at entrenching macroeconomic stability, supporting inclusive and job creating growth, and building international reserve buffers. The authorities plan to use the prospective fiscal space prudently for priority social spending—education, health, and social protection—and public infrastructure. The economic outlook has improved, buoyed by more favorable terms of trade and the upcoming development of a large offshore gas field. Growth is projected to accelerate to 6 3/4 percent this year, supported by a recovery in extractive sectors and continued broad-based non-extractive growth reflecting strong domestic demand and budding diversification. Downside risks related to global economic developments, commodity price volatility, and regional security concerns remain elevated. Considerable challenges remain to entrench macroeconomic stability, support inclusive growth, and build resilience to shocks. The prospective fiscal space should be used prudently for priority social policies and public infrastructure.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; government; GDP; real GDP; price; government action; Mauritania's performance; authorities' effort; hydrocarbon revenue fund; Board's support; windfall gas revenue; Fiscal stance; Credit; Debt sustainability analysis; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: First Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This paper discusses Mauritania’s First Review Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement. The outlook is positive, although considerable challenges remain to achieve high and inclusive growth. Vulnerabilities remain elevated and sustained reforms are needed to entrench macroeconomic stability; achieve inclusive growth that creates employment and reduces poverty; and improve the business climate and governance. Policy implementation has been satisfactory and the program is on track. All end-December 2017 performance criteria and eight of the ten structural benchmarks for December 2017–March 2018 were met; the remaining two were implemented with a one-month delay. The IMF staff recommends completion of the first review under the three-year ECF arrangement.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; price; government; SDR; balance; commodity price development; reform implementation; extractive GDP; Mauritanian authorities; Excl. FDI-financed import; Policy implementation; Credit; Fiscal stance; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Sixth Review Under the Three Year Extended Credit Facility Arrangement and Request of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion—Staff Report; Press Release on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Islamic Republic of Mauritania
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This paper discusses the Islamic Republic of Mauritania’s Sixth Review under the Three-Year Extended Credit Facility Arrangement and Request of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion. Mauritania’s current account deficit has been significantly widened due to higher infrastructure and mining-related imports. Planned projects are concentrated in agriculture, energy, and infrastructure—all three sectors with large investment needs and in line with Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper priorities. Nonrenewable resources are playing an important role in the economy, but the fiscal policy formulation does not incorporate the challenges associated with resource revenue exhaustibility and volatility and, therefore, does not prevent pro-cyclical fiscal policy.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; executive board discussion; government; deficit; GDP; FDI; monetary policy effectiveness; fiscal policy formulation; challenges Mauritania; year-end inflation; Mining sector; Credit; Imports; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Measuring and Mending Monetary Policy Effectiveness Under Capital Account Restrictions: Lessons from Mauritania
Mr. Robert Blotevogel
I propose a new approach to identifying exogenous monetary policy shocks in low-income countries with capital account restrictions. In the case of Mauritania, a domestic repatriation requirement is the key institutional characteristic that allows me to establish exogeneity. Unlike in advanced countries, I find no evidence for a statistically significant impact of exogenous monetary policy shocks on bank lending. Using a unique bank-level dataset on monthly balance sheets of six Mauritanian banks over the period 2006–11, I estimate structural vector autoregressions and two-stage least square panel models to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of monetary policy. Finally, I discuss how a reduction in banks’ loan concentration ratios and improvements in the liquidity management framework could make monetary stimuli more effective.
Keywords:
WP; bank lending; central bank; bank reserves; refinancing possibility; monetary policy effectiveness; exogenous monetary policy shocks; capital account restrictions; low-income countries; liquidity management; loan concentration; monetary policy shock; fish export; balance sheet equity; liquidity position; private-sector credit; transmission mechanism; banks' holding; loan portfolio; excess reserves; risk management capability; Credit; Bank credit; Agroindustries; Exports; Loans; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Fifth Review Under the three-Year Extended Credit Facility Arrangement, Requests for Modification of Performance Criteria and Extension of the Arrangement—Staff Report and Press Release
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
Mauritania successfully weathered several exogenous shocks during 2011–12. Political upheaval in neighboring countries has not had detrimental economic effects so far, but political uncertainty remains high. Resilient growth and a continued buildup of external and fiscal buffers characterize better-than-expected macroeconomic developments. Ambitious structural reforms are vital for generating broad-based inclusive growth, promoting employment, and reducing poverty. The authorities will continue to improve transparency and economic statistics. Policy actions laid the foundation for a sound macroeconomic performance, although important challenges and vulnerabilities remain.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; SDR; government; GDP; exchange rate; price; procurement code; foreign exchange; current account; monetary policy; private sector; Credit; Loans; Nonperforming loans; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Selected Issues Paper
International Monetary Fund
Despite a relatively high GDP growth rate over the past decade (2000–10), economic growth in Mauritania has not been able to make a significant dent in poverty. Rapid and sustained poverty reduction requires inclusive growth that allows people to contribute to and benefit from expanding economic activity. Mauritania needs to make greater progress toward inclusive growth by enhancing the distributional impact of public spending and by improving the quality of pro-poor spending. The Executive Board recommends effective monetary policies to meet the challenges.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Mauritania; bank; poverty incidence; bank lending channel; poverty perception; public spending; subsidy reform; funding constraint; Inclusive growth; Credit; Bank credit; Exports; Europe; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa; Middle East; North Africa; East Africa