Regional financial sanctions on Mali

Mali shares the CFA franc, issued by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), with seven other countries in the West African Economic and Monetary Union, so it has no independent monetary policy: the currency is pegged to the euro at 655.957 CFA francs, and interest rates are set for the whole union. After military governments took power in 2020 and 2021 and delayed elections, the regional bloc ECOWAS imposed financial sanctions on Mali in January 2022, closing borders and cutting its access to the regional banking system, including the regional bond market. The sanctions, which were lifted in July 2022, restricted payments and import financing for several months and increased the cost of borrowing, showing how closely a country's economy is tied to regional monetary arrangements. Mali's output and inflation series since then also reflect higher food and fuel prices and a decline in security in the north and centre.