The Beninese government interprets the maintenance of its sovereign rating by S&P as an endorsement of its decision not to resort to the debt moratorium proposed by the G20.

According to the American rating agency S&P, "the Covid-19 pandemic will take a heavy toll on Benin's economy and public finances" for the year 2020, halving its growth to 3%, in particular due to the slowdown in the activity of its trading partners, in the forefront of which are Bangladesh, India and Vietnam, the main buyers of its cotton.

But in a document published on June 19, the agency's analysts confirmed the long-term and short-term sovereign credit ratings of "B+/B" for the country, with a stable outlook, a sign of their confidence in the resilience of the Beninese economy. "We expect business-friendly reforms to continue, growth to rebound, and the government to continue to reduce the deficit and put general government debt on a downward path relative to GDP." they detail.

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"This rating confirms the positive outlook for the country, with real GDP growth estimated at 6.3% on average over the period 2021-2023 by S&P", welcomes the Beninese Ministry of Economy and Finance in a press release dated of June 22.

Beware of relaxation

And the ministry, led by Romuald Wadagni, whose voice was raised against the Debt Service Suspension Initiative initiated by the G20 , specified that his country's decision not to participate in this program "contributed to reassure investors. An allusion to Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire, placed "under surveillance" for possible downgrading by the American agency Moody's, which fears that these countries will extend the G20 initiative to their private creditors, even if the two governments assure that this will not be the case.

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In addition, while S&P analysts are optimistic about the Beninese economy, in favor of which they expect an increase in private investment and for which they welcome the reforms underway, particularly in favor of improving the environment for companies, agricultural production and tax collection, they warn that a relaxation of these economic and fiscal reforms or significant budget overruns in anticipation of the 2021 presidential election could lead them to revise the country's rating downwards .