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

June2024 IMFCountryReportNo.24/194 ISLAMICREPUBLICOFMAURITANIA SECONDREVIEWSUNDERTHEARRANGEMENTSUNDERTHEEXTENDEDCREDITFACILITYANDTHEEXTENDEDFUNDFACILITY,REQUESTSFORMODIFICATIONOFPERFORMANCECRITERIAANDAWAIVEROFNONOBSERVANCEOFPERFORMANCECRITERION,ANDFIRSTREVIEWUNDERTHEARRANGEMENTUNDERTHERESILIENCEANDSUSTAINABILITYFACILITY—PRESSRELEASE;ANDSTAFFREPORT InthecontextoftheSecondReviewsUndertheArrangementsUndertheExtendedCreditFacilityandtheExtendedFundFacility,RequestsforModificationofPerformanceCriteriaandaWaiverofNonobservanceofPerformanceCriterion,andFirstReviewUndertheArrangementUndertheResilienceandSustainabilityFacility,thefollowingdocumentshavebeenreleasedandareincludedinthispackage: APressRelease. TheStaffReportpreparedbyastaffteamoftheIMFfortheExecutiveBoard’sconsiderationonalapse-of-timebasis,followingdiscussionsthatendedonMarch8,2024,withtheofficialsoftheIslamicRepublicofMauritaniaoneconomicdevelopmentsandpoliciesunderpinningtheIMFarrangementundertheExtendedFundFacility.Basedoninformationavailableatthetimeofthesediscussions,thestaffreportwascompletedonMay16,2024. Copiesofthisreportareavailabletothepublicfrom InternationalMonetaryFundPublicationServicesPOBox92780Washington,D.C.20090Telephone:(202)623-7430Fax:(202)623-7201 E-mail:publications@imf.orgWeb:http://www.imf.org InternationalMonetaryFundWashington,D.C. ©2024InternationalMonetaryFund PR24/205 IMFExecutiveBoardCompletestheSecondReviewsUndertheExtendedCreditFacilityandtheExtendedFundFacilityArrangementsandtheFirstReviewundertheResilienceandSustainabilityFacilityArrangementfortheIslamicRepublicofMauritania FORIMMEDIATERELEASE TheIMFExecutiveBoardcompletedtodaythesecondreviewsundertheExtendedCreditFacility(ECF)andtheExtendedFundFacility(EFF)arrangements,andthefirstreviewundertheResilienceandSustainabilityFacility(RSF)arrangementfortheIslamicRepublicofMauritania,enablingtheauthoritiestodrawSDR21.3million(approximately US$36.84million).TheperformanceinIMFsupportedprogramsundertheECFandEFFarrangementsandtheRSFarrangementisontrack. In2024,economicgrowthisexpectedtoimprove,whileinflationhassloweddownsignificantly.However,theeconomicoutlookremainsuncertain. ContinuedimplementationoftheprogramsundertheECFandEFFarrangements,andoftheambitiousreformmeasurestoaddressclimate-relatedvulnerabilities,supportedbytheRSFarrangementwillhelpaddressMauritania’smedium-andlong-termchallengesandcatalyzeadditionalfinancingfromdonorsandtheprivatesector. Washington,DC–June4,2024:TheExecutiveBoardoftheInternationalMonetaryFund(IMF)completedtodaythesecondreviewsundertheExtendedCreditFacility(ECF)andExtendedFundFacility(EFF)arrangements1andthefirstreviewundertheResilienceandSustainabilityFacility(RSF)arrangement2fortheIslamicRepublicofMauritania.ThecompletionofthereviewsallowsforanimmediatedisbursementofSDR21.3million(approximatelyUS$36.84million),ofwhichSDR2.15million(aboutUS$3.72million)undertheECFarrangement,SDR4.29million(aboutUS$7.42million)undertheEFFarrangement,andSDR14.86million(aboutUS$25.70million)undertheRSFarrangement.TheExecutiveBoard’sdecisionwastakenonalapse-of-timebasis.3 TheperformanceinFundsupportedprogramsundertheECF/EFFarrangementsandtheRSFarrangementisontrackanditsimplementationhasbeensatisfactory.Allend-Decemberquantitativeperformancecriteria(QPCs)weremet,exceptforthedeficitofthenon-extractiveprimarybalance(NEPB)forwhichamarginalbreachwasobservedduetoanunexpectedprojectloandisbursementinDecemberforthestatisticalagencyandforwhichtheExecutiveBoardgrantedawaiverofnonobservance.December2023andMarch2024SBsweremet. TheApril2024reformmeasure(RM)undertheRSFarrangementwasalsomet. 1ApprovedbytheIMFExecutiveBoardonJanuary25,2023foranamountofSDR64.40million(about86.9milliondollars)(seepressreleaseNo.23/15) 2ApprovedbytheIMFExecutiveBoardonDecember19,2023intheamountofSDR193.2million(about258.21milliondollars). 3TheExecutiveBoardtakesdecisionsunderitslapse-of-timeprocedurewhenaproposalcanbeconsideredwithoutconveningformaldiscussions. 2 In2024,economicgrowthisexpectedtoreach4.3percentcomparedto3.4percentin2023,drivenbytheperformanceofthenon-extractivesector.Inflationhassloweddownsignificantly,turningoutat2.7percentinMarch2024comparedto8.2percentinMarch2023,reflectingthedownturnincommoditypricesandmonetarypolicytightening.Atend-2023,theNEBP,includinggrants,amountedto-5.3percentofGDP(comparedto-7.6percentin2022).Thecurrentaccountdeficitisestimatedtohavenarrowedto10.0percentofGDPin2023(comparedto14.6percentatend-2022).Internationalreserveshavestabilizedandareatanadequatelevelof2.0billiondollarsin2023(6.3monthsofprospectivenonextractiveimports). Theeconomicoutlookremainsuncertain.AnescalationofgeopoliticaltensionscouldaffectMauritaniathroughnewtermsoftradeshocks.Climatedisasterscouldcausedeteriorationininfrastructure,arablelands,andagricultureproduction,andkeepingfoodinsecurityrelativelyhigh.FurtherdelaysinthestartoftheGreaterTortueAhmeyim(GTA)gasprojectand/oradversepricefluctuationsincommoditymarketscouldlowerfiscalrevenue,increaseexternalfinancingneeds,andworsenthe