Country Report Cote d'Ivoire May 2011

Outlook for 2011-12: External sector

The current-account surplus will fall in 2011 as political instability and economic sanctions hurt the country's exports. The smuggling of cocoa into neighbouring Ghana has increased as companies try to bypass the sanctions on the ports but cocoa exports from the ports of San-Pédro and Abidjan will restart in May. Oil export earnings will hold up well despite the sanctions, helped by high global prices in 2011, before falling in 2012. In the meantime, capital import growth will taper in 2011 as the uncertainty over the country's economic future delays investment. The deficit on the transfers account will remain deep, because of the suspension of donor funds, before recovering slightly in 2012 if political stability is restored. Overall, the current-account balance as a percentage of GDP is forecast to fall from 2.7% in 2010 to -0.6% in 2011-12.

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