IMF Working Papers

Escaping the Curse of Oil? The Case of Gabon

By Ludvig Söderling

May 1, 2002

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Ludvig Söderling. Escaping the Curse of Oil? The Case of Gabon, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2002) accessed September 19, 2024
Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

This paper studies the prospects for sustainable growth and economic development in Gabon, in the face of a severe decline in its main source of income and growth, i.e. oil. A simple Computable General Equilibrium model is used to simulate the development of the non-oil economy under various assumptions. The results of the simulations underline Gabon's dependence on foreign financing-especially private-and its vulnerability to variations in oil prices. The potential role of an income stabilization fund is also discussed.

Subject: Asset and liability management, Debt relief, Expenditure, Foreign exchange, National accounts, Private investment, Production, Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP), Public investment spending, Real effective exchange rates, Total factor productivity

Keywords: Constant returns to scale, Debt relief, Diversification, Dutch disease, Financing, Financing needs, Gabon, GDP, Growth, Income stabilization fund, Investment, Investment balance, Oil, Oil GDP, Private investment, Private sector, Public investment spending, Real effective exchange rates, Savings, Stabilization fund, Sub-Saharan Africa, Total factor productivity, WP

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    36

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2002/093

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA0932002

  • ISBN:

    9781451851663

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941