Country Report Cote d'Ivoire June 2009

Outlook for 2009-10

• The holding of the presidential election, scheduled to take place in November 2009, will continue to be a necessary condition for improving the country's long-term political stability.
• Political instability may continue after the poll if there is widespread electoral fraud or if the main political parties do not accept the results.
• The country was awarded an IMF-supported three-year poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) in March 2009, which could pave the way for large external debt write-offs in late 2010.
• Real GDP is forecast to grow by just 3.2% in 2009 as the global economic downturn and weak commodity prices affect economic activity, before accelerating to 4% in 2010 as reconstruction work speeds up.
• Inflation is forecast to fall from an average of 6.3% in 2008 to 3.5% in 2009 and 3.2% in 2010 as a result of lower international food and oil prices.
• The current account is expected to move into deficit over the forecast period, recording shortfalls of 3.7% of GDP in 2009 and 4.7% of GDP in 2010, largely as a result of a narrowing trade surplus and a widening services deficit in 2010.

Monthly review

• The government has announced that the first round of the presidential election will take place on November 29th, ending months of delays.
• Under the new timetable, voter registration is due to finish by June 30th, and is to be followed by the publication of a national voter register in September and the start of electoral campaigns in late October.
• In the meantime, a key stage in the peace process has been reached with the formal handover of power by the northern rebel authorities to the central administration.
• The Paris Club of international creditors has agreed to write off US$845m of Cote d'Ivoire's debt, and to defer repayment of an additional US$4bn until April 2012.
• The IMF managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, visited Cote d'Ivoire, urging the government to improve governance and transparency in order to reach heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) completion point by end-2010.
• A feasibility study for the construction of a tramway system in the commercial capital, Abidjan, has been completed. However, it is still uncertain whether the project will go ahead in the next few years.

Source: Country Report

This report covers the following industry codes:
SIC Code: 47
NAICS Code: 48