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afrol News, 14 October - The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessment of the Mauritanian economy shows restrained progress. Even though the fishing and other sectors strengthened their performances, this was not sufficient to fully compensate for contraction in mining and agriculture. 2002 looks more positive. According to the IMF, real GDP growth slowed in 2001, "reflecting weaker international demand for iron ore and the impact of uneven rain and flooding on agriculture." These negative developments had been due to "the adverse impact of the recent global economic slowdown on Mauritania's exports and a weather-related contraction in the agricultural sector." Mauritania's export decreased by 3.9 percent in US$ value last year, or by 6.3 percent in volume. Other sectors however had shown strong growth throughout 2001, mainly industrial fishing, construction, and telecommunications. Also domestic demand had been strong throughout the year, contributing to a GDP growth that had "remained relatively solid". Growth was down from 5.0 percent in 2000 to 4.6 percent in 2001. The IMF board attributed the positive achievements to "sound macroeconomic and structural policies, including a solid fiscal position, a market-responsive exchange rate, a prudent external debt policy, adherence to the monetary program, and sustained structural reforms." This translates into the IMF's recommendations to the Mauritanian treasury. Also the fight against poverty had been somewhat successful. According to the IMF, "poverty and social indicators have improved ... but not at the pace originally expected." The poverty rate has declined from 50 percent in 1996 to 46 percent in 2000, but this improvement had not been even across regions. Poverty had increased in both the capital city, Nouakchott, and in the Senegal River Valley. The latter is the country's principal agricultural zone, which is suffering heavily from desertification. Nouakchott, on the other hand, is the main destination of people deprived of all their values following natural disasters. Education and literacy indicators had however improved in general, although there had been little progress in increasing access to health and other basic services. The IMF board urged the authorities "to strengthen their efforts to further improve these indicators and ensure a sustainable and equitable reduction in poverty." The IMF thus continued to recommend well-known macroeconomic strategies to combat poverty. These include the obligatory privatisation, which so far has proven difficult in Mauritania. For example, privatisation of the electricity company had not yet occurred "due to weakness in the world energy sector." The IMF has not assessed the trends for 2002, but these seem to follow the same tendencies as in late 2001. The crisis in the Senegal River Valley has only deepened, leading to further poverty and agricultural export losses. The fisheries however seem to continue to expand in 2002 and the transport sector has gained much from the political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire as products from the West African interior (especially Mali) now more frequently are directed westwards to the port of Nouakchott. With the late payment of the EU's 2001 fishing license fee (€ 86 million, 8 percent of GDP) - which only arrived in 2002, the financial situation of the Mauritanian government also has improved this year. Several social and infrastructure projects that were supposed to start last year have only recently been inaugurated due to this late payment. This will further increase domestic spending and GDP in 2002.
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