An IMF mission led by Constant Lonkeng visited Antananarivo from March 26 to April 8 to assess programme implementation following an interruption caused by political developments last year. Discussions are set to continue in the coming weeks, with possible consideration by the IMF Executive Board thereafter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If the reviews are agreed and approved, Madagascar could receive total disbursements of about $183 million, under the two arrangements approved in June 2024.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IMF said Madagascar\u2019s economy has been hit by a series of external and domestic shocks, including Cyclone Gezani and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which have weighed on growth and eroded fiscal and external buffers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Despite these challenges, the fiscal deficit in 2025 was significantly lower than anticipated. This reflected tight cash management, sharp restraint in spending and the new administration\u2019s decision to realign investment projects with its strategic priorities. However, tax revenue performance fell well short of expectations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In response, the authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to domestic revenue mobilisation, which is expected to feature prominently in a supplementary budget for 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IMF stressed that heightened global and domestic uncertainties increase the need for careful contingency planning to preserve budget credibility, while allowing the exchange rate to absorb external shocks. The IMF said the central bank should maintain a tight monetary policy stance to guard against emerging inflationary pressures.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IMF mission highlighted the importance of maintaining Madagascar\u2019s automatic fuel pricing mechanism after the current pause, noting that it would help shield public finances from high global oil prices and free up resources for development spending. At the same time, the IMF welcomed the authorities\u2019 plans to expand renewable energy to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IMF also underscored the urgent need for well\u2011targeted measures to protect vulnerable households from higher fuel prices and the rationalisation of tax expenditures.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Longer\u2011term recovery prospects, the IMF said, depend on advancing core structural reforms to tackle state capture and corruption, which are critical to fostering private\u2011sector\u2011led growth and job creation in priority sectors including energy, agro\u2011industry, textiles, tourism and information technology.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–IMF\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31149,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-31148","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed talks with Madagascar\u2019s authorities on the combined third and fourth reviews of the country\u2019s economic programme under the Extended Credit Facility and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.","published_date":"","news_description":"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed talks with Madagascar\u2019s authorities on the combined third and fourth reviews of the country\u2019s economic programme under the Extended Credit Facility and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31150,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31148\/revisions\/31150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}