Fitch Ratings confirmed last Friday, September 8, the issuer's long-term default rating (IDR) in Benin's currencies at “B+” with a stable outlook.

Benin's “B+” rating reflects strong trend growth, a recent track record of economic reforms, prudent fiscal policies, and proactive debt management. In fact, Benin has embarked on a consolidation plan, anchored in the IMF program, aimed at reducing the budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2025, compared to 5.5% in 2022. The program focuses on revenue mobilization with the objective of increasing the tax-to-GDP ratio by 0.5 percentage points each year. Revenue mobilization is low, at 14.3% of GDP in 2022, well below the median “B” of 25.3%, and may reach 15.3% of GDP by 2025. For its part, Fitch forecasts that the budget deficit will fall to 4.7% of GDP in 2023, 4.1% in 2024 and 3.3%