Country · CAF
Central African Republic · 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 3.8 % of GDP
Central African Republic: in 2025, the general government spent 3.8 % of GDP more than it collected, public debt stood at 42.6 % of GDP, the current account showed a deficit of 2.6 % (IMF).
- Fiscal balance · 2025
- −3.8 %
- of GDP · −1.5 pt since 2020
- Public debt · 2025
- 42.6 %
- of GDP · +13.0 pt since 2020
- Current account · 2025
- −2.6 %
- of GDP · +2.8 pt since 2020
Fiscal balance, % of GDP
Negative: a deficit · dashed: estimates and projections
- Central African Republic
- Central Africa
Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook (October 2026) · general government net lending or borrowing · group values weighted by GDP in dollars (Syli Atlas)
CEMAC convergence criteria
First-rank criteria in 2025
- Reference fiscal balance ≥ −1.5 % of GDP not published by the IMF Not computed
- Inflation ≤ 3 % 1.0 % Met
- Public debt ≤ 70 % of GDP 42.6 % Met
Syli Atlas calculation from IMF figures · thresholds: CEMAC multilateral surveillance framework (2016) · the reference fiscal balance is not published by the IMF
Currency
Central African CFA franc
Central African Republic shares the Central African CFA franc and its central bank, the BEAC, with the five other CEMAC countries: the policy rate and foreign exchange reserves are common. The franc is pegged to the euro.
- Currency
- XAF
- Central African CFA franc
- Exchange regime
- Fixed
- 1 EUR = 655.957 XAF
- Inflation · 2025
- 1.0 %
- 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 other countries
At the end of 2025, Central African Republic owed 465 m$ in public external debt (World Bank). 4.3 % of it was owed to China, 41.4 % to multilateral institutions and 0.0 % to bond holders.
- Public debt · 2025
- 42.6 %
- of GDP · IMF
- External debt · 2025
- 1.1 bn$
- public and private · World Bank
- Public external debt · 2025
- 465 m$
- owed or guaranteed by the State
Risk of debt distress
IMF and World Bank debt sustainability analysis
Latest analysis published on 2025-06-23: high.
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…)
- 41.4 %
- China
- 4.3 %
- Other countries
- 54.0 %
- Bonds (Eurobonds)
- 0.0 %
- Banks and other private lenders
- 0.3 %
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