Guinea-Bissau: First Review Under the Extended Credit Facility, Request for a Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion-Press Release; Staff Report

This paper focuses on Guinea-Bissau’s the First Review Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). Program performance was satisfactory with all but one end-January 2023 quantitative performance criteria met for end-January 2023 and all structural measures at end-March 2023 for the second review completed. Guinea-Bissau is a fragile state facing significant development challenges, including sustaining the recovery from the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, supply disruptions, and the global economic slowdown. All but one quantitative performance criteria (QPC) for end-January 2023 were met. The floors of tax revenue, domestic primary balance, social spending, and the ceiling on wage bill spending were all met. Macroeconomic prospects remain similar to program approval, and performance criteria for the second review have not been modified. The IMF staff supports the authorities’ request for completing the first review of the ECF arrangement based on polices outlined in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies. The draft 2023 budget supports strong fiscal consolidation.