Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Technical Assistance Project on Public Debt Projections: Scoping Mission Report

This document outlines the initiation and early stages of a Technical Assistance project designed to enhance the capacity of Mauritania's National Committee on Public Debt (CNDP) in the areas of public debt projection and analysis. Following a request from Mauritanian authorities, IMF ICD staff engaged in comprehensive virtual discussions with the CNDP's Technical Committee in September 2023. A subsequent mission to Nouakchott in January 2024 evaluated the existing capacity and resources at the CNDP for public debt projection and debt sustainability analysis. The IMF team proposed adopting the IMF’s Public Debt Dynamics Tool (DDT), customized for Mauritania's specific economic conditions. This recommendation aims to assist the CNDP in generating reliable medium-term debt projections and analyzing risk scenarios. These scenarios include the impact of natural disasters and explore fiscal adjustment strategies via the non-extractive primary balance to achieve targeted debt levels.