Within the framework of actions to promote the Public Securities Market of the Union, the Agence UMOA-Titres has published the eighteenth issue of the bulletin of up-to-date statistics on public securities of the UEMOA.

The member states of the West African Monetary Union (Umoa) raised 2,244 billion FCFA in the 3rd quarter of 2020 on the regional market, according to data published by the Umoa-Titres agency.

The figures delivered put Côte d'Ivoire in the lead with a mobilized amount of 976 billion FCFA borrowed, or about 43.5% of the 2,244 billion raised on the market by the eight WAEMU member states.

It is followed by Benin 237 billion FCFA; Senegal CFAF 230 billion; Togo 218 billion; Niger CFAF 209 billion; Burkina CFAF 207 billion; Mali CFAF 136 billion; Guinea Bissau 31 billion FCFA.

A WAMU Treasury bond is a short-term redeemable debt security issued by the Public Treasury (the State).

Côte d'Ivoire has the highest growth rate in the union with controlled inflation. The country experienced an average annual growth rate of 7.8% over the period 2015-2017.

After a deceleration in 2018, the growth of the Ivorian economy stood at 6.9 in 2019. It is expected to slow to 3.6% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis. Thus, the contributions to growth of the secondary and tertiary sectors should increase respectively from 2.2 and 4.1 percentage points in 2019 to 1.1 and 2.8 percentage points in 2020. As for the contribution of the primary sector, it would be negative in 2020.

The budget deficit improved by 0.7 percentage points to 2.3% of GDP in 2019 in line with the improvement in revenue mobilization and the control of current expenditure. Due to the adverse effects of COVID-19 on economic activity, the budget deficit would stand at 5.1% of GDP in 2020.

The current account balance has deteriorated gradually over the past five years from -0.4% of GDP in 2015 to -3.6% in 2018 before settling at -3.7% in 2019 It would fall to 3.6% of GDP in 2020 due to the disruptions in foreign trade caused by COVID-19.

The deterioration of the current account balance over the past five years is explained by the sharp increase in imports of capital goods in connection with the investments made under the National Development Plan combined with that of imports of crude oil. In addition, exports have experienced a slight increase due to the fall in the world price of cocoa, it is explained.