ADF Approves $ 12.65 Million in Loan for Mauritania

The Abidjan-based African Development Fund (ADF) has approved a loan of about $ 12.65 million to finance Mauritania's fiscal adjustment program, reports the panafrican news agency "PANA."

PANA quoted an ADB statement as saying the program would contribute to the creation of conditions for strong and sustained growth in order to reduce poverty in Mauritania.

Mauritania intends to achieve that goal through full mobilization of domestic revenues with the gradual implementation of direct taxation reform.

The program involves generation of considerable resources and revenue elasticity and reducing the tax burden through broadening and diversifying the tax base.

According to the ADF, the program would also support the creation of a single VAT (Value Added Tax) in Mauritania and the improvement of its management, gradually eliminating exemptions and consolidating it as a single consumer tax.

The amount represents 10% of the exceptional financing needs to support the balance of payments for the 2001-2002 period whose total amount, apart from assistance provided by the International Monetary Fund, is estimated at $ 122.69 million.