BAMAKO: Mali's gross domestic product should continue to grow strongly at 5.3 percent in 2017 if the country can maintain stability in the face of a security threat, the International Monetary Fund mission said on Wednesday.
GDP should grow at 5.4 percent in 2016, while inflation is forecast at 1 percent next year up from 0.5 percent in 2016, head of mission Lisandro Abrego told a news conference in the capital Bamako.
"This favourable perspective is at the same time subject to risks, notably the fragile security situation," he said.
Northern Mali faces a deteriorating security situation despite a peace deal signed last year between the government and Tuareg secular armed groups in the north.
At the same time, the country faces a threat from Islamist groups, also based in the north, who staged a high-profile attack on a hotel in Bamako in November 2015. Militants linked to al Qaeda briefly seized key northern cities in 2012.
The GDP growth is partly due to a strong performance in the agricultural sector this season, government economist Barema Bocoum said. The West African state exports cotton and is one of Africa's leading gold producers.
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