The Director General of Economy and Fiscal Policy has warned that the Covid-19 pandemic will cause a loss of 700 billion CFA francs in state budget revenue in 2020. This loss is due to a decline in oil production to -4.5% and a slowdown in non-oil sector activities to + 0.6% compared to 3.8% initially projected. This fall will also be marked, according to Jean Baptiste Ngolo Allini, by a recession of almost 4 points
Gabon will be hit hard by the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, the country will lose 700 billion CFA francs from its budgetary revenue. The figure was given by the Director General of Economy and Fiscal Policy on May 7: “In budgetary terms, the health crisis will result in a loss of around 700 billion CFA francs in revenue provided for in the law of initial finance ”, Jean-Baptiste Ngolo Allini warns.
Based on the latest estimates made by his services, Jean-Baptiste Ngolo Allini notes that “Gabon risks going from the positive growth of 3.8% expected in the initial finance law, to a slight recession marked by growth of around -0.2%, a loss of 4 points ”.
This result, he said, “comes from the drop in oil production to -4.5% and a very sharp slowdown in non-oil sector activities to + 0.6%, instead of 3.8%, as originally planned ”. In addition, the sectors which will be impacted by this crisis will be those of “petroleum and petroleum services, tourism, hotels and catering, the wood industries, the building and public works, passenger transport and non-food trade”.
Regarding demand, “the slowdown compared to the objectives of the initial finance law would be explained by the drop in local demand, in connection with the expected reduction in public and private investment, the drop in consumption and the fall in international demand for exported goods, ”insisted the Director General of Economy and Tax Policy. To lessen the economic impact of the health crisis, he said the government had taken saving measures.
According to him, these are marked by the “preservation of activities vital to our economy, in particular the export sectors as well as the maintenance of the banks and insurance companies”. On the fiscal side, “businesses will be supported through the reduction of 50% in business licenses and the withholding synthetic tax for small traders and personal service businesses,” Jean-Baptiste Ngolo Allini said.
