Guinea-Bissau:Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility-Press Release; and Staff Report

Guinea-Bissau is a fragile state with significant development challenges, including limited fiscal space, debt vulnerabilities and poor governance. After years of political turmoil and delayed reforms, in 2021 the authorities started the implementation of an ambitious fiscal consolidation program to ensure debt sustainability while creating fiscal space to address developmental needs. A Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) disbursement of SDR 14.2 million (50 percent of quota) was approved in January 2021 to provide urgent financing to support critical spending in health. A nine-month SMP with three quarterly reviews, approved in July 2021 ended with satisfactory performance building track record of policy implementation towards an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. The August 2021 SDR 27.2 million allocation and the reforms underpinned by the SMP have helped address the adverse impact of the pandemic, while improving the transparency of government spending, and mitigating debt vulnerabilities.