Benin has just been selected among five countries in the world to benefit from an initiative of the International Monetary Fund to help them achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Xinhua learned Thursday from an official source in Cotonou.

Benin, Rwanda, Indonesia, Guatemala and Vietnam will be the subject of an IMF initiative for country case studies, designed to adapt external support to the specific needs and objectives of countries “in accordance with national and sectoral development strategies “. A draft for comments from national authorities will be available during the summer and finalized before the UN General Assembly meeting in September 2018 when the overall findings of all the case studies are discussed, according to the IMF.

“Improving development indicators, as a whole, is likely to require significant additional resources, including to meet public spending. It would also be important for countries to develop strategies to mobilize the required financing and improve the capacity to administration to properly spend these resources, “said the director of the IMF’s public finance department, Vitor Gaspar, in a letter to Benin’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Romuald Wadagni.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 is seen by many specialists as a significant challenge. Given its mandate and its expertise in public finance issues, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers itself particularly well placed to support countries in meeting this important challenge.