Overview
The first case has been identified in mid-March 2020. After being contained during the second half of 2020, the incidence of the pandemic has increased rapidly since the beginning of the year. To help contain the pandemic, the authorities adopted a response plan for the health sector and enacted social distancing measures, including the closing of borders, schools, and most public establishments, a ban on meetings of more than 15 people, and restrictions on the movement of people from Bangui. They have also been working on a more exhaustive plan, which, in addition to the strengthening of the health sector, would provide financial support to the most vulnerable households and companies.
Reopening of the Economy. As the number of new cases has been declining, the president has announced some reopening measures to enable the restart of the economic activity in July 2020. Restaurants, bars and places of worship have been allowed to re-open. Moreover, international travels have resumed gradually, and most travel restrictions have been lifted, and the quarantine for people arriving from abroad has been reduced from 21 to 14 days. This reopening is conditional on following some measures such as frequent hand washing and social distancing. However, self-quarantine for confirmed cases remain in place.
Vaccination strategy. 360 000 AstraZeneca doses of vaccines, enough to cover 180 000 people, have been allocated to CAR under the COVAX program. They will be given to health workers and elderly in priority.
Official Resources
No Data
COVID-19 Restrictions
Movement Restrictions:
- Is a curfew in place? Yes, due to ongoing civil unrest, not due to COVID-19 restrictions
- Are there restrictions on intercity or interstate travel? No
Transportation Options:
- Are commercial flights operating? Yes, however airline schedules often change with little notice. Please monitor your flight status on a continual basis.
- Is public transportation operating? Yes
- Public transportation is considered dangerous and it is not recommended to travel by mini-bus or moto-taxis (motorcycles). Private cabs are available.
Fines for Non-Compliance:
Economic Measures
Key Policy Responses as of June 01, 2021
FISCAL
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The response plan for the health sector was prepared in strong collaboration with the WHO, with an estimated cost of 27 billion of FCFA (1.9 percent of GDP). It goes beyond an immediate response plan and contains measures to strengthen the ability of the healthcare system to deal with such pandemics in the future. It notably aims at: (i) providing medical care of confirmed cases, (ii) improving the monitoring of the country’s points of entry; and (iii) strengthening the capacities of the medical staff, laboratories and hospitals. In addition to the health sector plan, the authorities are envisaging providing financial support to the most vulnerable households and companies, while increasing access to water. Other specific fiscal measures to help the private sector, such as tax relief or suspension and easing of public procurement procedures, are also being considered. The government has requested the help of its development partners to finance this plan, through grants and loans. A draft supplementary budget law has been adopted and includes around 44 billion of CFAF of donors additional support related to Covid-19. The additional spending related to Covid-19 amounts for about 15 billion of CFAF, mainly broken down as 12 billion for prevention and management of the pandemic, 0.5 billion as support to vulnerable household and 2.6 billion for the support to the private sector. Preliminary data indicate that about 11.5 were actually spent in 2020.
MONETARY AND MACRO-FINANCIAL
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On March 27, 2020, BEAC announced a set of monetary easing measures including a decrease of the policy rate by 25 bps to 3.25 percent, a decrease of the Marginal Lending Facility rate by 100 bps to 5 percent, a suspension of absorption operations, an increase of liquidity provision from FCFA 240 to 500 billion, and a widening of the range of private instruments accepted as collateral in monetary operations. The BEAC also reduced haircuts applicable to private instruments accepted as collateral for refinancing operations until end- 2020, which it extended by 6 months from January 1, 2021 at its December 21, 2020 MPC meeting . Further, at its July 22, 2020, extraordinary Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting the BEAC announced a new program of government securities purchases for the next 6 months, which it extended by another 6 months starting on March 1, 2021 at its December 21, 2020 MPC meeting. The purchase of the program is meant as a safety net, to ensure full cover of government securities issuances, while being consistent with BEAC Charter which prohibits direct monetary financing. The program is based on revised securities issuance plans for each country, consistent with the latest revised budget laws and the budget financing frameworks agreed under the IMF programs. The BEAC also decided to resume liquidity injections with longer maturity, of up to one year.
On March 25, 2020, the COBAC informed banks that they can use their capital conservation buffers of 2.5% to absorb pandemic-related losses but requested banks to adopt a restrictive policy with regard to dividend distribution. In July 2020, the COBAC prevented all banks from distributing any dividend for the years 2020 and 2021. The COBAC also put in place ad-hoc reporting to closely monitor financial stability developments following the COVID-19 crisis.
Civic Freedom Tracker
No data available
