World Bank2021-07-142021-07-142021-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/35900The economy of the Central African Republic (CAR) decelerated in 2020 compared to 2019. Despite a relatively contained health impact, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on the country’s economy, with the disruption in global value chains, low external demand, and domestic containment measures that significantly affected trade, transport, and tourism. Nevertheless, CAR’s GDP growth of 0.8 percent has outpaced the average of regional peers (−2.9 percent) and countries affected by fragility, conflict and violence (FCV) (−1.7 percent). On the supply side, the positive dynamic of the agriculture sector prevented the economy from entering a recession, and the forestry and telecommunications sectors were more resilient than expected. On the demand side, private consumption contracted in 2020, reflecting a decline in household income owing to the pandemic. As a result, the extreme poverty rate increased from 70.7 percent in 2019 to 71.4 percent, affecting a total of more than 3.4 million people, in 2020. CAR’s current account balance (CAD) deteriorated in 2020. The current account deficit widened from 4.8 percent of GDP in 2019 to 8.7 percent of GDP in 2020, driven by weak external demand and private transfers as well as an increased deficit of the balance on goods. With the COVID-19 pandemic, goods exports declined while non-oil imports were boosted by donor-funded investments. CAR’s current account deficit is not expected to be as severe as that of comparator FCV, CEMAC, and Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The capital account balance improved significantly in 2020 due to the rise in external grants, while the financial account surplus shifted into a deficit. The improvement in the capital account has helped narrow the balance of payments deficit and increasing foreign reserves, which reached a level equivalent to about 3.5 months imports at end-2020.En 2020, l’économie de la République centrafricaine (RCA) a ralenti par rapport à 2019. Malgré un impact sanitaire relativement contenu, la pandémie de la maladie à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) a eu un impact significatif sur l’économie, avec une perturbation des chaînes de valeur mondiales, une faible demande extérieure, et des mesures de confinement nationales qui ont considérablement affecté le commerce, les transports, et le tourisme. Néanmoins, la croissance du PIB de la RCA de 0.8 % a dépassé la moyenne de ses pairs régionaux (−2,9 %) et des pays touchés par la fragilité, le conflit et la violence (FCV) (−1,7 %). Du côté de l’offre, la dynamique positive du secteur agricole a empêché l’économie d’entrer en récession, et les secteurs de la foresterie et des télécommunications se sont révélés plus résilients que prévu. Du côté de la demande, la consommation privée s’est contractée en 2020, reflétant une baisse des revenus des ménages consécutive à la pandémie. En conséquence, le taux d’extrême pauvreté est passé de 70,7 % en 2019 à 71,4 % en 2020, affectant plus de 3,4 millions de personnes au total.CC BY 3.0 IGOECONOMIC OUTLOOKMONETARY POLICYFISCAL TRENDSCOVID-19PANDEMIC IMPACTCORONAVIRUSECONOMIC SHOCKECONOMIC GROWTHFRAGILITYHUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENTHUMAN CAPITAL INDEXPUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERYPUBLIC SPENDINGEARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENTLABOR MARKETReportWorld Bank10.1596/35900