MADAGASCAR AND IMF DISAGREE ON INVESTMENT LAW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANTANANARIVO 001162 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E AND EB PASS TO USAID FOR AFR/SD AND EGAT ALSO PASS TO TREASURY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ECON EAID EINV PREL IMF MA SUBJECT: MADAGASCAR AND IMF DISAGREE ON INVESTMENT LAW ANTANANARI 00001162 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. A September 20-October 4 Mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) found Madagascar largely compliant with the terms of its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and praised the Government of Madagascar (GOM) for appropriate use of its debt relief windfall. The GOM agreed to trim spending in a revised budget to compensate for reduced imports leading to below-forecast customs collections. However the IMF and the GOM clashed over a proposed investment law; the IMF claimed the tax incentives would so distort the revenue picture as to invalidate the basis of the PRGF, while the GOM claimed that the incentives would attract investment spurring sufficient economic growth to offset the revenue losses. It appears the investment law will be modified to meet IMF concerns, but GOM officials have told us privately they felt they had been "blackmailed" into accepting the change. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The IMF Mission, led by Brain Ames and composed of three economists and the IMF Resident Representative, had three main objectives: 1) To conduct a first review of the PRGF program by analyzing Madagascar's performance, accomplishments, and the macroeconomic indicators as of the end of July 2006; 2) To discuss the economic situation to determine whether there might be a need to adjust economic policy for the achievement of the objectives for 2006 as projected; and, 3) To discuss the 2007 program, in particular the 2007 budget and its accompanying macroeconomic framework and policies, the new investment code, and financial sector reforms. On October 4, Ames briefed the donor community on the outcome of the visit. THE GOOD NEWS FIRST: LARGELY MEETING TARGETS -------------- ¶3. (U) Ames began by noting that the GOM is meeting or respecting all realization criteria and indicators under the PRGF. For the period September to December 2006, the projected tax revenue (as forecast in May 2006) is expected to fall short by some 30 billion Ariary (approx. USD 14 million),mainly due to a decline in imports lowering customs revenue. The Minister of Finance, with concurrence from President Ravalomanana, agreed to reduce expenditures by this amount and presented a belt-tightening budget amendment in the National Assembly on October 4. The average inflation target for 2006 was revised down by half a point to 10.8 per cent, mainly because of the decline in rice and oil prices. ¶4. (U) Looking ahead to 2007, the GOM and the IMF reduced the tax revenue target by 0.3 points to 11.2 per cent of GDP. Ames said they agreed it was better to set an achievable target than to fall short of an ambitious one. The level of expenditures will be revised accordingly. ¶5. (U) Ames cited one other highly positive result of the IMF Mission's analysis. Some donors have criticized the GOM for misallocating the debt service windfall arising from Madagascar's debt relief through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). Ames contradicted this view, stating that the increase in poverty reduction priority spending from 2005 to 2006 and budgeted into 2007 exceeds the sum of the additional funds obtained through HIPC and MDRI. SOME CONCERNS: PUBLIC UTILITY, CENTRAL BANK, MANAGEMENT -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The IMF expressed concern that the budgeted operating subsidy to the water and electricity utility, JIRAMA, was 25 billion Ariary (just under USD 12 Million) whereas independent assessments (confirmed in the meeting by other donor representatives) suggested the true shortfall to be double that amount. Ames wondered what this would mean in terms of power outages and corresponding constraints on economic growth. ¶7. (U) The IMF also stressed the need to recapitalize the Central Bank to make it profitable. This is expected to strengthen its independence and to provide it with the resources necessary to carry out effective monetary policy. The GOM is discussing a recapitalization plan with the IMF that is expected to be implemented in March 2007 and included in the 2007 Budget Law. ¶8. (U) The GOM's management of public finance was the third concern the IMF raised. This was a problem in 2005, and the World Bank is funding four French visiting experts to audit and explain the reasons for the overrun in expenditures, in order to prevent the problem from recurring. In the meantime the GOM, encouraged by the IMF, will introduce a monthly tracking system, tied to quarterly targets, to better calibrate revenue with expenses ministry-by-ministry. ANTANANARI 00001162 002.2 OF 003 ¶9. (SBU) On this subject, the EU interjected to express concern over the delay in budget execution, particularly fund disbursement in the social sectors. If not addressed properly, this would affect their indicators, which in turn regulate the disbursement of their budgetary support. The resultant delay could then have a negative impact on the GOM's budget. THE BIGGEST CONCERN OF ALL: THE INVESTMENT CODE -------------- --- ¶10. (SBU) Ames acknowledged that the only really contentious discussion had centered on the GOM's proposed new investment code. This is a centerpiece of President Ravalomanana's Madagascar Action Plan (MAP),his five-year program to accelerate the country's development beginning in 2007. The MAP targets double-digit economic growth, to be achieved in large measure through dramatic expansion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the order of USD 500-800 million per year. The FDI would be channeled through a new facilitating institution, the Economic Development Board of Madagascar (EDBM). The EDBM proposed a new law that would provide up to 200 billion Ariary (approx. 93 million USD) in fiscal incentives including a two-year exemption in the profit tax and a reduction in the profit tax rate from 30 to 20 per cent. ¶11. (SBU) Ames expressed strong support for investment promotion and facilitation, but was skeptical that the fiscal incentives would achieve anything other than to throw the budget severely out of balance. He supported simplification of the tax and customs laws as helpful to attract investment, as well as being intrinsically desirable, but argued strongly that such simplification should be carefully studied and modeled in advance so as to be strictly revenue neutral. Should the GOM agree to follow this path, with a goal of launching the new laws in October 2007 for the 2008 budget, he had offered IMF and other donor technical assistance in carrying out such studies. ¶12. (SBU) The GOM, however, was pushing for fast solutions, Ames said, expressing frustration that the investment team within the Presidency was looking only at investment and not considering the implications for revenue, poverty reduction, or anything else. He had finally told the GOM that if the investment law were passed unchanged then the IMF would have to withdraw the PRGF. This was not a threat, according to Ames, but a reality, because it would change all of the parameters upon which the PRGF had been based. THE GOM FEELS ITS ARM TWISTED -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Meeting separately with the Ambassador on October 6, Dr. Prega Ramsamy, the Mauritian selected by President Ravalomanana to head the EDBM, reflected the GOM's frustration at the IMF's position. Ramsamy suggested the IMF was merely "balancing the books" and performing static analysis in a fluid situation. They were not including the economic benefits, including government revenues, which will accrue once the investment arrives. The GOM and IMF agreed on the need for investment promotion and facilitation, as well as assistance in securing safe title to land for investment, but diverged sharply on fiscal incentives. He pointed out that Madagascar "is not the easiest country to do business in" and therefore, if nearby countries with better infrastructure such as Mauritius offer fiscal incentives, then Madagascar's offer must be a little sweeter. According to Ramsamy, the IMF initially proposed an extended budget impact study to be concluded in 2010. The GOM felt "blackmailed" since it feared a donor backlash if the PRGF were to be withdrawn, so it agreed to the study but accelerated it to mid-2007. Ramsamy asked whether the USG could offer any economic modeling assistance to the GOM so that it could also do its own studies of this issue. COMMENT: TOO RUSHED, OR TOO MEASURED? -------------- ¶14. (SBU) COMMENT: Post sees merit on both sides of the investment argument, but is perhaps slightly more sympathetic to the GOM position. For one thing, Madagascar tends to be a highly traditional, conservative society; it is refreshing to hear them accused of rushing into anything. This urgency reflects several realities: Madagascar is woefully short of FDI, its GDP growth barely exceeds its population growth, and the process of globalization has tended to reward the more nimble and fast-reacting countries in the competition for investment. This leads the GOM to fear it will miss the train while the IMF forces it to examine the timetable. Perhaps, for a country as poor as Madagascar, missing the train altogether is a greater danger than boarding the wrong one, the danger the IMF seems to fear. In any case, this dispute ANTANANARI 00001162 003.2 OF 003 has strained relations between the IMF and the GOM and has overshadowed the generally positive report the IMF issued regarding the GOM's performance. END COMMENT. SIBLEY