Mali: Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV Consultation, Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility, and Cancellation of the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement—Informational Annex
Author:
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
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Publication Date:
26 Feb 2013
eISBN:
9781475567588
Language:
English
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; debt; IMF mission; government; real GDP; CFA franc; SDR equivalent; governance framework; financial asset; BCEAO website; Balance of payments statistics; Tax administration core functions; Debt relief; Government finance statistics; West Africa
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In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

Abstract

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

Relations with the Fund

(As of November 30, 2012)

I. Membership Status: Joined: September 27, 1963 Article VIII

II. General Resources Account:

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III. SDR Department:

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IV. Outstanding Purchases and Loans

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V. Latest Financial Arrangements

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Formerly PRGF.

VI. Projected Payments to Fund 2/

(SDR Million; based on existing use of resources and present holdings of SDRs)

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When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.

VII. Implementation of HIPC Initiative

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Assistance committed under the original framework is expressed in net present value (NPV) terms at the completion point, and assistance committed under the enhanced framework is expressed in NPV terms at the decision point. Hence these two amounts cannot be added.

Under the enhanced framework, an additional disbursement is made at the completion point corresponding to interest income earned on the amount committed at the decision point but not disbursed during the interim period.

VIII. Implementation of Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI)

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The MDRI provides 100 percent debt relief to eligible member countries that qualified for the assistance. Grant assistance from the MDRI Trust and HIPC resources provide debt relief to cover the full stock of debt owed to the Fund as of end-2004 that remains outstanding at the time the member qualifies for such debt relief.

IX. Implementation of Post-Catastrophe Debt Relief (PCDR): Not Applicable

Decision point - point at which the IMF and the World Bank determine whether a country qualifies for assistance under the HIPC Initiative and decide on the amount of assistance to be committed.

Interim assistance - amount disbursed to a country during the period between decision and completion points, up to 20 percent annually and 60 percent in total of the assistance committed at the decision point (or 25 percent and 75 percent, respectively, in exceptional circumstances).

Completion point - point at which a country receives the remaining balance of its assistance committed at the decision point, together with an additional disbursement of interest income as defined in footnote 2 above. The timing of the completion point is linked to the implementation of pre-agreed key structural reforms (i.e., floating completion point).

X. Safeguards Assessments

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is a common central bank of the countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAMU). The most recent safeguards assessment of the BCEAO was completed on March 1, 2010. The 2010 update assessment found that the BCEAO continues to have controls in place at the operational level. The overall governance framework should nonetheless be strengthened by the addition of an audit committee to ensure that the Board of Directors exercises appropriate oversight over the control structure, including the audit mechanisms and financial statements. The completion of the Institutional Reform of the WAMU and the BCEAO in the beginning of 2010 should help to correct that situation. Efforts to implement fully the International Financial Reporting

Standards reporting framework should also be pursued.

XI. Exchange Rate Arrangements

Mali is a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The exchange system, common to all members of the union, has no restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions. The union’s common currency, the CFA franc, was pegged to the French franc at the rate of CFAF 50 = FF 1 from 1948 until early 1994. Effective January 12, 1994, the CFA franc was devalued, and the new parity set at CFAF 100 = FF 1. Effective January 1, 1999, the CFA franc was pegged to the Euro at a rate of CFAF 655.96 = EUR 1.

As of June 1, 1996, Mali and other members of WAEMU accepted the obligations of Article VIII, Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Fund’s Articles of Agreement. Mali’s exchange system has no restrictions on making payments or transfers for current international transactions and the country does not engage in multiple currency practices.

Sharing a common trade policy with other members of WAEMU, Mali has shifted key trade policy-making to the sub-regional level. The common external tariff (CET) was adopted in January 2000. Mali complies with the union’s tariff rate structure and has effectively dismantled internal tariffs. Between 1997 and 2003, WAEMU tariff reform reduced the simple average custom duty from 22 percent to 15 percent; the maximum rate is currently 20 percent. Imports to Mali are not subject to quantitative restrictions.

Mali’s exports to the European Union generally enjoy non-reciprocal preferential treatment in the form of exemption from import duties under the Everything but Arms initiative. Malian goods enjoy nonreciprocal preferential access to the markets of developed countries other than the European Union under the Generalized System of Preferences. Mali is also eligible to benefits from the United States’ African Growth and Opportunity Act. Mali imposes no de jure restrictions on exports.

XII. Article IV Consultations

Mali’s Article IV consultation cycle is governed by the provisions of the decision on consultation cycles, Decision No. 14747-(10/96) (9/28/2010). The Executive Board completed the last Article IV consultation (EBS/10/132) on July 16, 2010.

XIII. Technical Assistance

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Joint Management Action Plan Implementation

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Statistical Issues

(As of November 30, 2012)

Data provision has some shortcomings, but is broadly adequate for surveillance. Mali has been participating in the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) since September 2001 and has advanced the implementation of its short- and medium-term plans for improvement. The metadata has been posted on the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB), since June 2003.

Real sector

The economic accounts of Mali are prepared by the National Directorate of Statistics and Data Processing (DNSI), in accordance with the System of National Accounts 1968 (SNA68) and adapted to certain characteristics specific to Mali. They are compiled on an annual basis. There are, however, weaknesses in the accuracy, coverage, and timeliness of national accounts data. The main reason has been the inadequacy of source data, along with insufficient funding and technical staffing of the DNSI. The work on implementing the System of National Accounts 1993 (1993 SNA) is ongoing, with the support of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commission and AFRITAC West. At this time, the new base year, 2006, has been completed, and 2007 is near completion.

In concert with other WAEMU member countries, the DNSI has been compiling and publishing a harmonized consumer price index (CPI) for Bamako on a monthly basis since early 1998.

Government finance statistics

As part of the process of economic integration among the member countries of the WAEMU, the country has made significant progress in bringing its fiscal data in line with the common framework that has been developed with technical assistance from the Fund (the harmonized table of government financial operations–TOFE). However, further efforts are needed to improve the timeliness and coverage of the TOFE. Work is progressing with the assistance of STA, AFRITAC West and AFRISTAT to expand the coverage of the TOFE to public agencies and local governments, as well as to strengthen coverage of domestic financing items. Quarterly budget execution reports are posted on the Ministry of Finance website on a timely basis.

In July 2007, a GFS mission visited Bamako to advance further the implementation of the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001, and subsequently a country page was introduced in the 2007 issue of GFS Yearbook. To date the authorities have supplied six years of annual GFS data and they are preparing to disseminate quarterly data to STA for publication in IFS. In January 2008, the Minister of Finance issued a decree committing the government to the development of a database which will facilitate the balance sheet approach to analysis of the public sector; among the first steps will be an inventory and appraisal of the fair market value of nonfinancial assets. In July 2008, STA AFRITAC West staff visited Bamako for a short follow- up mission and was provided with complete data on both social security agencies.

Public debt statistics are prepared and monitored by separate agencies: external debt by the National Public Debt Directorate (NPDD) and domestic debt by the National Directorate of the Treasury and Government Accounting. The NPDD uses CS-DRMS accounting software. Debt data and projections are of generally good quality, although there is scope for improving presentation as well as the coverage of debt relief (multilateral and bilateral). A Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) was finalized in late 2009, and the authorities are working to strengthen debt data in line with the DeMPA report’s recommendations.

Monetary data

Monetary and financial statistics:

Monetary and financial statistics, compiled and disseminated by the regional Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), are broadly adequate and their institutional coverage is comprehensive. The dissemination of monthly monetary data from the BCEAO takes four to six weeks consistent with GDDS recommendations. Data are posted on the BCEAO website with a considerably longer lag. Accuracy is somewhat hampered by the use of 1990 sorting coefficients to estimate cross border amounts of banknotes among BCEAO countries, which in turn are used to estimate currency in circulation and to adjust the net foreign assets of each member country. Standardized Report Forms (in line with the Monetary and Financial Statistical Manual) are still not regularly used to report monetary data to the IMF.

Balance of payments

In December 1998, the responsibility for compiling and disseminating balance of payments statistics was formally assigned to the BCEAO by area-wide legislation adopted by the countries participating in the WAEMU. The BCEAO national agency finalizes the data toward mid-November of the following year, and publishes immediately thereafter in the form of a brochure, which however are not sufficiently robust.

In general, the external sector statistics in Mali exhibit serious deficiencies. Concepts and definitions used to compile the balance of payments statistics are in broad conformity with the guidelines presented in the fifth edition of the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5). The adoption of BPM6 methodology is not required before 2013/2014, except for the recording of SDR allocations as debt liabilities. The Mali balance of payments metadata should also be updated.

The BCEAO set up a subregional unit responsible for reconciling intra-WAEMU trade data, which is responsible for harmonizing the bilateral statistics of member states to eliminate asymmetries before these data on internal transactions in the Union are consolidated to prepare the WAEMU regional balance of payments. The corrections made are retroactive to national data and help to improve them.

Balance of payments data remain weak in a number of key areas. Data on remittances, foreign direct investment and portfolio flows are similarly weak. Project aid is currently classified as current transfers rather than in the capital account, and several large in-kind projects are not captured in the balance of payments data properly.

Data on international investment position is published in IFS and BOPSY up to 2007. A foreign private capital survey (FPC) from DFI called “PRC CPE” is underway as in all Franc Zone countries. However, foreign assets of the private non banking sector are not well covered in the financial accounts as the surveys of residents’ foreign assets remain very partial, and no use is made of an existing alternative source, e.g., BIS statistics.

The April-May 2003 multi sector statistics mission found that the balance of payments compilation system is generally sound and encouraged the authorities to integrate banking settlement sources and disseminate the balance of payments within the recommended timeliness, as set by the GDDS. The first of these recommendations remains pending. Annual statistics on balance of payments are reported to STA on a regular basis, but with some delay.

Poverty statistics

The PRS Annual Update identifies a key set of poverty indicators for monitoring of the PRS implementation.

Mali: Common Indicators Required for Surveillance

(As of November 30, 2012)

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Includes reserve assets pledged or otherwise encumbered as well as net derivative positions.

Both market-based and officially-determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes and bonds.

Foreign, domestic bank, and domestic nonbank financing.

The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.

Including currency and maturity composition.

Includes external gross financial asset and liability position vis-à-vis nonresidents.

Note: Daily (D); weekly (W); monthly (M); quarterly (Q); annually (A); irregular (I); and not available (NA).

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Mali: Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV Consultation, Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility, and Cancellation of the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement
Author:
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
Volume/Issue:
Volume 2013: Issue 044
Publisher:
International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
9781475567588
ISSN:
1934-7685
Pages:
136
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475567588.002