Country · BFA
Burkina Faso · Finances and debt
Period
Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook (October 2026) · copied on 2026-11-11
Public finances and external accounts
A fiscal deficit of 1.5 % of GDP
Burkina Faso: in 2025, the general government spent 1.5 % of GDP more than it collected, public debt stood at 53.2 % of GDP, the current account showed a surplus of 5.8 % (IMF).
- Fiscal balance · 2025
- −1.5 %
- of GDP · +3.7 pt since 2020
- Public debt · 2025
- 53.2 %
- of GDP · +8.2 pt since 2020
- Current account · 2025
- +5.8 %
- of GDP · +1.6 pt since 2020
Fiscal balance, % of GDP
Negative: a deficit · dashed: estimates and projections
- Burkina Faso
- West Africa
Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook (October 2026) · general government net lending or borrowing · group values weighted by GDP in dollars (Syli Atlas)
UEMOA convergence criteria
First-rank criteria in 2025
- Fiscal balance ≥ −3 % of GDP −1.5 % Met
- Inflation ≤ 3 % −0.5 % Met
- Public debt ≤ 70 % of GDP 53.2 % Met
Syli Atlas calculation from IMF figures · thresholds: UEMOA Additional Act No. 01/2015/CCEG/UEMOA · fiscal balance: general government net lending or borrowing (IMF), close to the overall balance including grants
Currency
West African CFA franc
Burkina Faso shares the West African CFA franc and its central bank, the BCEAO, with the seven other UEMOA countries: the policy rate and foreign exchange reserves are common. The franc is pegged to the euro.
- Currency
- XOF
- West African CFA franc
- Exchange regime
- Fixed
- 1 EUR = 655.957 XOF
- Inflation · 2025
- −0.5 %
- average annual change in consumer prices
Currency codes: ISO 4217 · fixed parities: central banks (BCEAO, BEAC, Central Bank of the Comoros, Bank of Cape Verde…) · inflation: IMF, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Debt
A debt owed first to multilateral lenders
At the end of 2025, Burkina Faso owed 6.2 bn$ in public external debt (World Bank). 1.4 % of it was owed to China, 89.7 % to multilateral institutions and 0.0 % to bond holders.
- Public debt · 2025
- 53.2 %
- of GDP · IMF
- External debt · 2025
- 11.3 bn$
- public and private · World Bank
- Public external debt · 2025
- 6.2 bn$
- owed or guaranteed by the State
- Debt service · 2024
- 4.2 %
- of exports of goods, services and income
Risk of debt distress
IMF and World Bank debt sustainability analysis
Latest analysis published on 2026-03-23: moderate.
Source: IMF, list of debt sustainability analyses of low-income countries, as of 2026-03-31 · imf.org
Public external debt by creditor
Share of the total at the end of each year
- Multilateral (IMF, World Bank, AfDB…)
- 89.7 %
- China
- 1.4 %
- Other countries
- 7.0 %
- Bonds (Eurobonds)
- 0.0 %
- Banks and other private lenders
- 1.9 %
Source: World Bank, International Debt Statistics (updated 2026-11-05) · public and publicly guaranteed external debt, end of year · CC BY 4.0 · shares: Syli Atlas calculation