The goal of the last ECF arrangement (2005–09) was to support Benin's strategy to achieve higher sustainable growth and reduce poverty while preserving macroeconomic stability and reducing vulnerabilities to external shocks. The program achieved most of its objectives. The main macroeconomic challenge ahead is to mitigate the impact of the crisis in the short term, while reaching higher sustainable growth over the medium term. The government's economic program is geared properly to pursue these objectives. The structural reform agenda is appropriately ambitious.