Gabon not planning debt restructuring, focused on growth - vice president

By Libby George

LONDON (Reuters) -Gabon is not considering a debt restructuring or reprofiling, and is in the process of rebasing its calculations of GDP, which will make its debt-to-GDP ratio more favourable, the country's vice president told Reuters.

Gabon is also auditing internal debts, Vice President of Gabon Alexandre Barro Chambrier said on the sidelines of the Financial Times Africa Summit in London.

Asked about possible debt reprofiling or restructuring, Chambrier told Reuters: "We are not at this juncture at this time."

Gabon's World Bank disbursements were suspended in January over mounting arrears, and it had been facing an acute squeeze on liquidity that has left it increasingly reliant upon regional capital markets to meet financing needs.

Chambrier said "there is no reason to be scared" of the country's debt and borrowing, and that Gabon is finalising a national economic plan that would ensure all the country's debt contributed to long-term growth and development.

He told a panel earlier in the morning that Gabon was working to increase its oil output and was able to repay.

In his comments to Reuters, he said rebasing the gross domestic product calculations would better capture the informal sector and the country's "natural capital".

That would produce a bigger GDP figure than the current calculation, which according to the World Bank stood at just under $21 billion in 2024. The rebasing would likely be completed before year-end and make the country's debt-to-GDP ratio more favourable, he said.

The audit of internal debt would ensure that it was "clean or correct".

"This is part of the rule of law in a country, you really need to assess that things are well done and that the governance is good. The resources are well used. There is no evaporation," he said.

He also said that while Gabon is in regular contact with the International Monetary Fund, it is focused on having "room for manoeuvre to invest" rather than on securing a lending programme from the Fund.

(Reporting by Libby GeorgeEditing by Peter Graff)

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