The Bank of the Republic of Burundi, together with the Ministry of Finance, held a conference-debate on economic reforms aimed at securing macroeconomic stability. The Governor outlined the central bank’s ongoing reform agenda to address inflationary pressures, foreign exchange market tensions and what he described as excessive reliance on monetary financing, emphasising the need for stronger coordination between fiscal and monetary policy. Key measures described included maintaining a restrictive monetary policy stance since 2023, transitioning toward an inflation-targeting framework, introducing a policy rate as a market reference, and modernising monetary policy instruments by shortening the reserve requirement maintenance period and issuing securities to absorb excess liquidity. The central bank is also modernising foreign exchange reserve management through the use of the Refinitiv platform and preparing a broader digitalisation of the financial sector, including goals linked to financial inclusion, stronger governance and reducing cash payments. In the same forum, the Minister of Finance highlighted continued macroeconomic imbalances alongside 3.9% real GDP growth in 2024 (3.3% in 2023), an expanded fiscal deficit of 8.3% of GDP in FY 2023/2024, international reserves equivalent to 1.4 months of imports at end-March 2025, and total public debt of 54.3% of GDP at mid-2024.
Bank of the Republic of Burundi 2025-08-14
Bank of the Republic of Burundi presents shift toward inflation targeting and tighter liquidity management at economic reform conference
The Bank of the Republic of Burundi and the Ministry of Finance held a conference on economic reforms to secure macroeconomic stability. Key measures include maintaining a restrictive monetary policy, transitioning to an inflation-targeting framework, and modernising monetary policy instruments. The Minister of Finance noted macroeconomic imbalances, with 3.9% GDP growth in 2024 and a fiscal deficit of 8.3% of GDP for FY 2023/2024.