In Côte d’Ivoire, a bad management of fiscal risks could hinder the long-term achievement of macro-fiscal targets and plummet the country’s economy, IMF indicated in its latest report on the country's fiscal situation, published last April 18.

According to the document, Ivorian public finances are exposed to many fiscal risks that represent a significant threat to the achievement of the National Development Plan (PND) designed to make Côte d’Ivoire an emerging country by 2020.

These risks include, among others, commodities prices’ fluctuations (cocoa, oil) and impact on growth, State-owned companies’ debt, as well as potential depletion of natural gas reserves by 2024.

Therefore, the institution recommends setting up a fiscal risks assessment and management framework to further manage them and anticipate their impacts. This calls for the strengthening of the fiscal risks identification and grading system as well as macro-economic risks quantification. Furthermore, in its reports on the economic and financial situation of State-owned companies, IMF suggests the addition of performance evaluation criteria related to fiscal risks management.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou (intern)