<\/p>\n
Economic activity remained robust during the first half of 2026, although growth is projected to moderate to 7.8% for the year and about 7% in 2027.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IMF attributed the slowdown to the gradual effect of higher transport and import costs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Inflation remains contained and is expected to increase to the 2% target in 2027. \u201cBenin\u2019s economy has continued to demonstrate resilience in the face of multiple shocks,\u201d IMF Mission Chief Sonali Das said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The medium-term outlook remains favourable, supported by reforms, economic transformation and efforts to increase local value addition to agricultural commodities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fund said stronger performance by special economic zones, deeper regional cooperation and faster structural reforms could increase investment, exports and employment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, volatile commodity prices, tighter international financial conditions, trade fragmentation, regional insecurity and extreme weather remain significant risks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The fiscal deficit declined from 2.5% of gross domestic product in 2024 to an estimated 2.3% in 2025, supported by strong revenue collection.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The deficit is projected to remain at 2.3% in 2026 before increasing to 2.9% in 2027, remaining below the West African Economic and Monetary Union ceiling of 3%.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fund said prudent fiscal management should continue while protecting priority social spending and providing targeted support to vulnerable households.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Benin should broaden the tax base, reduce exemptions, strengthen tax and customs administration and improve compliance, the Fund said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Updating the Single Social Registry should improve the targeting and monitoring of social programmes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fund welcomed steps to improve debt and fiscal transparency, including legal reforms for public debt management and the publication of revised debt data aligned with international standards.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Further improvements in state-owned enterprise oversight, procurement and fiscal-risk reporting could strengthen accountability and protect public resources, the Fund said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Benin\u2019s financial system remains broadly sound, while credit to private businesses continues to expand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fund said increased digital payments and improvements to credit registries, collateral frameworks and financial infrastructure could ease financing constraints for small and medium-sized businesses.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fund concluded, saying reforms supporting business formalisation, agricultural productivity, human-capital development and private investment could deliver more inclusive growth and employment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–IMF\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33444,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-50409","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Benin\u2019s economy grew by 8.1% in 2025, the strongest expansion in nearly two decades, supported by broad-based growth across several sectors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.","published_date":"","news_description":"Benin\u2019s economy grew by 8.1% in 2025, the strongest expansion in nearly two decades, supported by broad-based growth across several sectors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50409","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":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50411,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50409\/revisions\/50411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=50409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}