27 11 13 Bloomberg – IMF Raises Congo 2013 Growth Outlook on Stronger Copper Output
Expansion next year in the $18 billion economy will
probably be 8.7 percent, less than the 10.5 percent projected by
the Washington-based lender last month, Oscar Melhado, the IMF’s
Kinshasa-based resident representative, said by e-mail today.
The IMF raised its figure for this year “on stronger-than-
projected copper production, which more than offset a decline in
cobalt and diamond production, as well as vibrant growth in
commerce and construction” through September, Melhado said. The
revision for 2014 “is mainly a base effect because of higher
growth in 2013.”
Copper production may increase 20 percent this year to
750,000 metric tons, Moise Katumbi, the governor of mineral-rich
Katanga province, said this month. Congo was the world’s largest
producer of cobalt and the eighth-largest supplier of copper
last year. Mining represented about 15 percent of its economy in
2012, according to the IMF.
“In the medium term, growth can reach two digits led by
mining, commerce, construction, and agriculture,” Melhado said.
The possible development of the $12 billion Inga 3 hydropower
project may also spur the economy, he said.
Inga 3 would eventually provide about 4,800 megawatts of
power to South Africa and Congo. Construction may begin in 2015,
according to the Energy Ministry.