The Gabonese authorities can blow. The rating agency Fitch Rating has just reduced the perspective attached to the rating of the country from “negative” to “stable”. This is a positive prospect for strengthening the appreciation of the signature of this small oil country around “B”, common note to almost all countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to Fitch Ratings, the Extended Credit Facility (MEDC), which the government has signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has helped the country limit its cash flow. The agency also believes that the reforms initiated by the government are going in the right direction.
“Following the weak implementation of the program in 2017 and the first half of 2017, the government has adopted a comprehensive reform agenda and completed the six prior actions required to complete the second review under the Expanded Mechanism. IMF financing, “says Fitch.
The measures aim, in particular, to put fiscal consolidation back on track, in particular by abolishing tax exemptions, adopting a revised budget for 2018 and canceling expenditure.
The revised budget includes new revenue mobilization measures of 1.5 percent of GDP and spending cuts of 1.4 percent of GDP. Standard & Poor’s credit rating for Gabon is N / A with outlook n / a. Moody’s credit rating for Gabon was last set for Caa1 with a stable outlook.
In general, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other investors use a credit rating to assess Gabon’s solvency, which has a significant impact on the country’s borrowing costs.