Gabon's bonds slide after IMF raises debt-to-GDP projections

NAIROBI, April 15 (Reuters) - Gabon's 2031 international bonds dropped nearly 3 cents on the dollar on Wednesday, Tradeweb data showed, after the International Monetary Fund raised the country's debt projections.

The bond due in November 2031 lost 2.99 cents to bid at 84.40 on the dollar, the data showed, while the one maturing in February of the same year shed 2.98 cents to bid at 85.41.

"Today's sell-off in bonds seems driven by a revision higher in the IMF's debt-to-GDP projections for Gabon," said Samir Gadio, head of Africa strategy at Standard Chartered (SCBFF) in London.

In its World Economic Outlook report published on Tuesday, the IMF raised Gabon's debt-to-GDP ratio for this year to 86.06% from 81.96% in the last edition of the report in October.

The report also raised the projection for that metric for every year until 2030. The annual fiscal deficits in the period were also projected to be wider than initial forecasts, the report showed.

The Central African oil producer formally requested a new programme from the IMF to shore up its finances last month. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri. Editing by Marc Jones and Mark Potter)