| Summary: | Mali has been hit by several large shocks in the past three years, including two coups d’état, the COVID-19 pandemic, acute security challenges and a cost-of-living crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A strict embargo in the first half of 2022 by regional partners restricted the government and private sector’s international economic transactions. Despite that embargo, GDP growth was estimated to be 3.7 percent in 2022. Inflation peaked at almost 15 percent in mid-2022—resulting in an increase in extreme poverty and heightened food insecurity—but has since decelerated, with inflation in March 2023 at 7.5 percent. The BCEAO regional central bank raised its policy rate to 3 percent in February 2023, a 100-basis point cumulative increase since June 2022
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