Côte d'Ivoire
IMF ends assessment mission in Côte d'Ivoire

Misanet.com / IRIN, 19 November - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to discuss with the Ivorian government a three-year programme to reduce poverty and spur economic growth in Côte d'Ivoire. The decision was based on an assessment by an IMF team that of a preliminary six-month economic programme implemented by the West African nation.

The team, whose 10-day mission ended on Friday, found that there had been "a good execution" of the July-December 2001 Staff Monitored Programme and urged the government to take "all necessary measures" to ensure that it is completed by the 31 December target date, the IMF said in a statement. 

Public finance reforms were also generally positive, the team said, but structural reforms needed the government's "greatest attention". 

The government needs to complete the liquidation of the CAISTAB - the state body that sets the prices of agricultural commodities - and collect money owed to the body, the IMF added. It also needs to make sure all local cocoa industry actors respect free-market regulations governing the sector, the statement said. 

The Fund also called for reforms in the energy sector and to state-owed financial institutions. 

The poverty reduction and economic recovery programme would run from 2002 to 2004. The IMF is willing to contribute about 50 percent of the 600 billion to 700 billion CFA (between US $848 million and US $988 million) it requires, the statement said.

The IMF had suspended ties with Côte d'Ivoire following a December 1999 coup d'état.

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