IMF Executive Board Completes the Fourth Review under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement and Approves a New Arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility for Burkina Faso

• The IMF Executive Board completed the fourth review of Burkina Faso’s Extended Credit Facility Arrangement, enabling an immediate disbursement of about US$33.2 million, and approved a new Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement of about US$124.3 million through September 2027 to strengthen external stability and climate resilience.
• Despite insecurity, poverty, and climate shocks, the 2026–28 outlook is positive, with growth near 5 percent and inflation below target. Fiscal consolidation, agricultural investment, and higher gold prices are supporting mining activity, exports, and food security.
• Program performance has been satisfactory, with all quantitative targets met except two minor misses, most structural benchmarks achieved, and prior actions implemented to address the missed governance benchmark.

Washington, DC – February 18, 2026: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the fourth review under the 48-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement that was approved on September 21, 2023. The completion of the review enables the immediate disbursement of SDR 24.08 million (about US$33.2 million), bringing total IMF financial support under the ECF arrangement to date to SDR 120.4 million (about US$165.8 million).

The Executive Board also approved an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), running until September 20, 2027, for an amount of SDR 90.3 million (about US$124.3 million), with disbursements to begin when the first review of this arrangement is completed. The RSF reforms aim to strengthen fiscal resilience to shocks, integrate climate considerations into public financial management, enhance the performance of state-owned enterprises in climate‑sensitive sectors, and catalyze green financing.

Real GDP growth is estimated to have accelerated to 5.0 percent in 2025, after reaching 4.8 percent in 2024. The supply response of artisanal mining to higher gold prices and mining sector reforms are estimated to have outweighed a slowdown in services. Real GDP growth is expected to remain within the 4.5–5.0 percent range over the medium term, contingent on the expected improvement in security. Average inflation slowed in 2025 to -0.5 percent due to a drop in food prices and is expected to converge to 2.0 percent over the medium term.

The external sector has strengthened, driven by higher net exports and improved terms of trade. Supported by high gold prices, the external current account is projected to move from a deficit of 3.4 percent of GDP in 2024 to surpluses of 1.1 percent in 2025 and 0.8 percent in 2026. The drive to increase gold production is expected to entail a rise in equipment imports, while energy imports will likely remain contained amid a stable oil price outlook.

Fiscal consolidation is on track. Due to strong revenue performance and spending discipline, the fiscal deficit in 2025 is estimated to have remained well within the program objective of 4.0 percent of GDP. This implies a tightening of 2.3 ppts of GDP since 2024, reflecting mostly higher revenues from gold mining, wage bill control, and restraint in capital expenditure.

Progress under the ECF arrangement has been satisfactory. The authorities met all end-June 2025 quantitative performance criteria (QPCs), all continuous QPCs, and all but one indicative target (IT) which was missed by less than 0.1 percent of GDP. They met all end-September ITs, except for the ceiling on VAT‑refund arrears that was exceeded by 0.02 percent of GDP.

The Burkinabè authorities advanced their structural reform agenda. They met eight out of ten structural benchmarks (SBs). The missed end-June SB on energy sector reform was subsequently implemented. The authorities also implemented three prior actions to mitigate the effects of missing the end-June SB on the publication of the Governance Diagnostic Assessment (GDA). They demonstrated strong commitment to further improving governance and have already implemented six out of the eleven GDA priority recommendations, with the remaining five to be implemented within the duration of the current IMF-supported program.

At the conclusion of the Executive Board’s discussion, Mr. Kenji Okamura, Deputy Managing Director, and Acting Chair, issued the following statement:

“Burkina Faso’s economy has proven resilient amid security and humanitarian challenges. Despite these adversities, program implementation has been satisfactory. Sound economic policies to improve governance and domestic revenue mobilization have contributed to creating fiscal space and supporting recovery, while keeping inflation under control and public debt on a sustainable path.

“The IMF-supported program in Burkina Faso continues to maintain focus on broad-based medium-term growth that raises living standards. To this end, the authorities are stepping up their reform implementation and press on with strategic capital outlays. In this context, fostering an enabling environment for the private sector and shielding the economy from external shocks by managing the heightened exposure to commodity price fluctuations will be key. Steadfast implementation of reforms aimed at enhancing the efficiency of public investment will also be instrumental in the achievement of the Burkinabè authorities’ ambitious development goals. Equally important will be the implementation of the authorities’ action plan informed by the Governance Diagnostic Assessment’s findings. While continued fiscal consolidation will be critical for maintaining macroeconomic stability, spending on health, education, and social protection should be safeguarded and prioritized in the multiyear spending plans.

“The Burkinabè authorities continue to pursue their ambitious reform agenda to improve fiscal governance guided by a strategy that covers a broad set of reforms. Within this framework, priority steps include the development of audit plans for all ministries related to their risks and the implementation of measures to strengthen integrity in mining licenses processes.

“The Burkinabè authorities have also put resilience on the forefront of their reform agenda. As subsistence agriculture provides food for eighty percent of the population, making agriculture resilient to the harsh local climate is a priority. While bolstering resilience, the authorities’ program under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement will also reduce balance-of-payments risks, most notably by lowering the periodic needs for emergency food imports.“

Table 1. Burkina Faso: Selected Economic and Financial Indicators, 2023–29
Population (2024): 23.5 million						Gini Index (2021): 37.4
Per capita GDP (2024): 982 USD					Life Expectancy (2021): 62 years
Share of population below the poverty line (2022): 43.7%						Literacy rate (2023): 41%
	2023	2024	2024	2025	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029
	Act.	3rd ECF  Review	Prel.	3rd ECF Review	Proj.	Proj.	Proj.	Proj.	Proj.
	(Annual percentage change, unless otherwise indicated)
GDP and Prices
GDP at constant prices	3.0	5.0	4.8	4.2	5.0	4.9	4.8	4.8	4.8
GDP deflator	2.0	8.9	9.7	5.9	7.0	4.4	2.7	2.0	2.0
Consumer prices (annual average)	0.9	4.2	4.2	3.0	-0.5	1.4	2.1	2.0	2.0
Consumer prices (end of period)	1.0	4.9	4.9	3.0	-2.2	2.9	2.1	2.0	2.0
Money and Credit
Broad money (M3)	-3.0	7.2	7.2	6.1	5.9	9.6	7.6	6.8	6.9
Net domestic assets (banking system) 1/	5.3	0.4	0.4	6.1	0.7	7.4	7.0	4.8	4.8
Credit to the government (banking system) 1/	3.0	3.7	3.7	3.8	1.7	3.0	2.2	1.5	1.4
Credit to private sector	5.9	-2.2	-2.2	2.6	-2.8	5.7	5.4	5.4	5.3
Private sector credit/GDP	31.9	27.0	27.2	25.1	23.5	22.7	22.2	21.9	21.6
External Sector
Exports (f.o.b.; valued in CFA francs)	-3.1	2.0	12.3	25.3	43.2	5.9	4.9	2.6	2.3
Imports (f.o.b.; valued in CFA francs)	-1.5	4.8	8.4	10.8	16.6	5.7	7.5	7.0	6.0
Current account (percent of GDP)	-5.1	-5.7	-3.5	-3.4	1.1	0.8	0.8	-0.4	-1.3
	(Percent of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)
Central Government Finances
Current revenue	20.8	20.6	20.7	19.8	21.4	19.9	19.9	20.2	20.3
Of which: Tax revenue	18.4	18.3	18.4	18.1	17.8	17.5	17.9	18.2	18.4
Total expenditure and net lending	29.3	27.7	27.8	25.0	26.1	24.6	24.2	24.4	24.6
Of which: Current expenditure	18.1	16.3	16.4	16.0	16.5	15.7	15.9	15.5	15.1
Overall fiscal balance, incl. grants (commitments)	-6.8	-5.8	-5.8	-4.0	-3.5	-3.5	-3.0	-3.0	-3.0
Total public debt	56.8	56.9	57.2	56.1	52.1	51.2	50.7	50.3	49.9
Of which: External debt	26.2	25.4	25.5	24.8	21.3	20.5	20.7	20.5	20.4
Of which: Domestic debt	30.6	31.6	31.8	31.3	30.8	30.6	30.0	29.8	29.5
Memorandum Items:
Nominal GDP (CFAF billion)	12,200	14,098	14,022	15,561	15,750	17,255	18,574	19,845	21,209
Nominal GDP per capita (US$)	874	975	982	1,002	1,127	1,250	1,312	1,367	1,427
Nominal exchange rate (CFAF/US$, period average)	606	606	606	635	580	560	562	563	563
Gold price (USD/troy ounce)	1,943	2,387	2,387	2,821	3,218	3,472	3,568	3,578	3,578
Sources: Burkinabé authorities; IMF staff estimates and projections.
1/ Annual change in percent of beginning-of-period broad money.