This paper discusses Burundi’s Sixth Review Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement and Request for Extension and Augmentation of Access. The macroeconomic outlook is broadly favorable, driven by continued public investment and a gradual recovery in agriculture; however, external vulnerabilities persist owing to a protracted decline in coffee exports and high volatility of coffee prices. The IMF staff supports the completion of the sixth review under the ECF and the authorities’ requests for an augmentation of access and extension of the current ECF arrangement through March 2016, which will be instrumental to catalyze donor support needed to address Burundi’s protracted balance-of-payments problem.

This book offers a wide-ranging discussion of the roots and consequences of ethnic strife in Burundi, and provides the reader with an appropriate background for an understanding of Burundi's transition to multiparty democracy and the coup and violence that followed.

Burundi, a small landlocked country located in East Africa, has a population of approximately 12 million people. The country is bordered by Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Burundi, which gained independence from Belgium in 1962, is known for its political instability, poverty, and ethnic conflict. The country has experienced several coups and attempted coups since gaining independence, with the most recent one occurring in 2015. Burundi is also known for its civil war, which lasted from 1993 to 2005 and claimed the lives of approximately 300,000 people. Despite these challenges, Burundi remains home to several ethnic groups, including the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa people, and has a rich cultural heritage. Burundi is primarily an agricultural economy, with coffee and tea being the main exports. However, the country also has significant deposits of nickel, cobalt, and uranium. Burundi has a relatively young population, with over half of its inhabitants being under the age of 25. The country has made significant progress in improving its healthcare and education systems, with a particularly strong focus on increasing access for girls and women. The government has also implemented policies aimed at reducing poverty and promoting economic development. Despite these efforts, Burundi remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with the majority of the population living below the poverty line.

This 2012 Article IV Consultation highlights that despite a difficult economic and social context, Burundi has made steady, though uneven, progress in implementing its Extended Credit Facility (ECF)-supported economic reforms. Real GDP growth is estimated to have increased to 4.2 percent in 2011. The medium-term macroeconomic outlook is challenging. Risks emanate from a delicate social situation given persistent shocks and the high cost of living. Executive Directors have emphasized the importance of pursuing public financial management reforms to foster greater transparency and accountability, and to strengthen institutional capacity.

Burundi has experienced conflict throughout most of its history since independence in 1962. The violence has generally been interpreted as ethnic, but, as this Report demonstrates has in fact been of a distinctly political nature, manipulated by elites wishing to capture or maintain power. Ethnicity has proved a strong mobilising force where a numerical minority – the Tutsi – currently controls much of the state, including the army; and the numerical majority – the Hutu – are politically and economically marginalized. Please note that the terminology in the fields of minority rights and indigenous peoples’ rights has changed over time. MRG strives to reflect these changes as well as respect the right to self-identification on the part of minorities and indigenous peoples. At the same time, after over 50 years’ work, we know that our archive is of considerable interest to activists and researchers. Therefore, we make available as much of our back catalogue as possible, while being aware that the language used may not reflect current thinking on these issues.

"Burundi has made tremendous progress over the past few years, including: the approval of the new Constitution in 2005, emphasizing the principles of power sharing and local development; the successful management of two rounds of democratic elections in 2005 and 2010’; and the creation of stable macroeconomic environment, which encouraged rebuilding of core public sector institutions. Despite these achievements, the report notes that economic growth remains weak and GSP rates are below expectations. Burundi is therefore vulnerable to different sources of risks conspiring to create a ‘fragility trap’ into which the economy can fall. Chief amongst them are: (i) food price volatility linked to international markets and climatic conditions: (ii) oil prices that affect the import bill of the country; (iii) high level of dependency on aid inflows; (iv) low budget execution capacity, coupled with weak state effectiveness and under-performing public institutions; (v) constraints on productive activity and a highly concentrated export profile; and (vi) enduring risks of political and social instability linked to the return of refugees and its impact on land conflicts and security threats. In this context, the main objectives of this Public Expenditure Review is to assist the Government in its efforts to escape fragility by focusing on two important and complementary themes: (i) creating adequate fiscal space to reduce the impact of future shocks; and (ii) using the available fiscal space to improve public expenditure management and promote government effectiveness. Building on these topics, the report emphasizes six key messages : (i) Burundi has a narrow fiscal space given the structure of its public expenditures, composed mainly of salaries and transfers; (ii) the country should mobilize additional domestic revenues to increase its fiscal space; (iii) the role of donors in supporting effective management of public expenditures remain critical and can also be the source of additional fiscal stress, especially when budget support arrives late in a fiscal year; (iv) accessing high quality budget data remains a challenge due to major incoherencies between data from the Treasury database and data published by SIGEFI; (v) the aid management is not properly integrated into budget execution process; (vi) it is advisable to adopt realistic and pragmatic solutions to improve the performance of the public administration, while keeping the wage bill under control. "

Burundi Energy Policy, Laws and Regulation Handbook

Provides facts about the social, economic, political and millitary institutions of the country.