Sudan, with the support of the international community, is implementing an ambitious reform program to address major macroeconomic imbalances and support sustainable, inclusive growth. A new transitional government was established in the wake of the 2019 revolution with the mandate to carry out sweeping reforms to reverse decades of economic and social decline. The government is pursuing a transformational reform agenda focused on: (i) achieving internal peace based on inclusion, regional equity, and justice; (ii) stabilizing the economy and correcting large macroeconomic imbalances; (iii) providing a foundation for future rapid growth, development, and poverty reduction; and (iv) improving governance and transparency.

Sudan, with the support of the international community, is seeking to implement an ambitious reform program to address major macroeconomic imbalances and support sustainable, inclusive growth. A new transitional government was established in the wake of the 2019 revolution with the mandate to carry out sweeping reforms to reverse decades of economic and social decline. The government is pursuing a transformational reform agenda focused on: (i) achieving internal peace based on inclusion, regional equity, and justice; (ii) stabilizing the economy and correcting the large macroeconomic imbalances; and (iii) providing a foundation for future rapid growth, development, and poverty reduction. The government has achieved important milestones, most prominently a peace agreement with almost all internal armed opposition groups in October 2020 to end 17 years of conflict. It has also agreed to ambitious reforms and policy adjustments in the context of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Staff Monitored Program (SMP) that meets the Upper Credit Tranche (UCT) conditionality standard and an International Development Association (IDA) Development Policy Financing (DPF) operation. Furthermore, on December 14, 2020, Sudan was officially removed from the United States State Sponsors of Terrorism List (SSTL), ending almost three decades of international isolation. While positive changes are underway, political contestation over power sharing arrangements remains acute. It is critical for Sudan to take advantage of a still favourable political economy to tackle its macroeconomic imbalances and put itself on a sustainable development trajectory.

This paper presents an assessment of Somalia’s eligibility for assistance under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The macroeconomic framework reflects the policy framework underlying the proposed three-year Fund-supported program. The debt relief analysis (DRA) remains largely unchanged, but some of the underlying debt data has been updated to reflect new information from creditors. In addition, this paper presents an assessment of debt management capacity in Somalia and a full Debt Sustainability Analysis under the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries. The DRA reveals that, after traditional debt relief mechanisms are applied, Somalia’s debt burden expressed as the net present value of debt-to-exports ratio is 344.2 percent at the end of December 2018—significantly above the HIPC Initiative threshold. Despite the challenging environment, progress on reform and policy implementation has been good and sustained reforms have translated into economic results. In addition to the coordinated support from the World Bank and the IMF, reforms have been supported by other development partners.

This paper presents an assessment of Haiti’s qualification for assistance under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement is scheduled to be discussed by the IMF Executive Board in parallel with this document. The impact of prolonged political conflicts and violence, periods of high external assistance followed by the withdrawal of economic support, and natural disasters has been severe. The government has begun the preparation of a full Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). An important objective of the authorities is to achieve robust and sustainable real economic growth.

Somalia has been rebuilding state institutions and the economy since the end of the devastating civil war, with strong support from the international community. The civil war led to complete state collapse, with tremendous loss of human and physical capital. Since the 2012 Provisional Constitution that created the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the Federal Member States (FMS), Somalia has successfully undertaken three national elections, and Parliamentary and Presidential elections were completed in May 2022. With financial and capacity development support from international partners, Somalia has pursued wide-ranging reforms to help strengthen key economic and financial policy institutions as well as improve governance.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has successfully implemented key reforms under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, despite experiencing exceptional challenges since the decision point, including a challenging security situation. Revised present value of HIPC assistance has given satisfactory assurances of their participation in the enhanced HIPC Initiative. The DRC does not qualify for topping-up under the enhanced HIPC Initiative. Full delivery of HIPC debt relief, and additional bilateral assistance beyond HIPC and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative debt relief at the completion point would reduce the DRC’s external debt burden significantly.

This paper presents a preliminary assessment of the eligibility of Haiti for assistance under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It discusses the medium-to-long-term macroeconomic framework, poverty, social, and political developments of Haiti, and summarizes the results of the preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) and possible HIPC and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) assistance. It suggests a timeline for the preparation of the decision point document, presents key reforms for the completion point triggers, and gives an indication of how prospective HIPC assistance will be used and its use tracked.