Suriname

Suriname is about to experience a significant oil boom. The task ahead needs to be to prepare a robust institutional framework that will harness this new wealth, spend it effectively, and ensure the livelihoods of the population are materially improved by it. Building on important achievements of the completed Fund-supported program, this will require that resources are managed with high levels of governance and a significant portion are saved for the future (particularly given limited capacity to manage and absorb a rapid increase in public spending). A prudent fiscal-monetary mix is and will be essential for safeguarding macroeconomic stability, so it is of concern that these hard-won gains are being eroded. Especially in the first half of 2025, an overly loose fiscal policy and an insufficiently restrictive monetary policy have boosted inflation and depreciated the currency. Despite record gold prices, mining output has weakened and growth is now projected to end the year well below the forecasts that were made when the program concluded.