We expect a resilient economy and still-strong donor support in Burkina Faso, despite the global economic downturn. We are affirming the 'B' long-term and 'B' short-term sovereign credit ratings on Burkina Faso. The stable outlook reflects our anticipation of continued reforms implementation, still-strong donor support, political stability, and manageable debt levels. On June 15, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'B' long-term and 'B' short-term sovereign credit ratings on Burkina Faso. The outlook is stable. Our transfer and convertability assessment remains unchanged at 'BBB-'. The affirmation reflects our expectation that Burkina Faso will continue to demonstrate relative economic resilience in a challenging global economic environment. Despite the world economic recession, we expect Burkina Faso's real GDP growth to
