Temper expansionary policy, IMF tells Africa

Earlier this month, the IMF downgraded its 2011 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the region to 5.5 percent from 5.9 percent previously, but maintained its 5.0 percent prediction for this year.

"The focus of policy needs to shift toward rebuilding the policy buffers that served so well during the crisis," Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, IMF's director of the African department, said in a statement. "In particular, expansionary fiscal policies will need to be tempered to make sure that public finances return to a sustainable path and public debt levels remain manageable."  The region's economies proved resilient largely due to sound policies in place before and during the financial crisis, which allowed the countries to use fiscal and monetary policy to dampen adverse effects, Sayeh said.