BAMAKO: Mali's gross domestic product is forecast to grow at 5.3 percent this year, down from 6 percent last year, and inflation will remain at about 1 percent, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.
The West African state exports cotton and is one of Africa's leading gold producers. The government, however, is fighting Islamist militants based in the arid north who have stepped up a campaign of violence in the last year.
"The economic outlook for 2016 is favourable .... The outlook is, however, subject to some downside risks, stemming mainly from Mali's fragile security situation," the IMF said after a review in Washington. Mali is supported by a $46.2 million IMF extended credit facility.
The IMF said it welcomed a planned supplementary budget that targets an increase in tax revenue of 0.75 percent of GDP and an overall fiscal deficit of 4.25 percent of GDP.
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