I.Coast hikes 2013 budget nearly 2 pct for infrastructure

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast will increase its 2013 budget by nearly 2 percent to cover the costs of post-war reconstruction and a new national airline, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

Once the economic engine of French-speaking West Africa, the world's top cocoa grower is investing heavily to renew infrastructure neglected during a decade-long political crisis.

"The budget of 3,814.6 billion CFA francs ...was increased to 3,883.8 billion CFA francs," Bruno Kone told journalists following a cabinet meeting in the economic capital Abidjan.

"This is due to an increase in spending by the state."

Kone said the supplementary spending would go towards completing a motorway linking Abidjan and the administrative capital Yamoussoukro and a long delayed bridge to the west of the main city.

It was also required for Ivory Coast's capital contribution to the country's new airline, Air Cote d'Ivoire.

Ivory Coast is enjoying an economic revival, having recorded growth of 9.8 percent last year after a 4.7 percent contraction in 2011. The government forecasts double-digit growth for 2014.

According to a debt issuance schedule seen by Reuters in January, the government plans to raise about $1.2 billion in 2013 using various debt instruments, to fund infrastructure projects.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/coast-hikes-2013-budget-nearly-2-pct-infrastructure-062938832.html

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