DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegal's economy grew just two percent in 2011, according to the country's statistics office, half the previous growth estimate given by the International Monetary Fund for the West African nation.
The data, the first batch of figures due to be released quarterly by the agency, showed the economy was dragged down by the agriculture sector, which was hit by poor rainfall and shrank by over 25 percent compared to the year before.
Last year, analysts polled by Reuters forecast Senegal's economy would grow by around four percent in both 2011 and 2012.
However, a tense and at times violent run-up to the presidential election in February, which will go to a second round on March 25, has dented the country's reputation for stability in the region and already slowed economic activity.
The tourism sector has been hit by low visitor numbers and analysts cited Senegal's poor 30 billion CFA franc January treasury bond issue, which was only 73.5 percent subscribed, as evidence of uncertainty.
A lower issue of 15 billion CFA francs in February was slightly oversubscribed.
The two percent growth figure was given by Senegal's ANSD statistics office in a flash report on the fourth quarter of 2011.
The IMF's 4 percent figure for 2011 was itself revised down from 4.5 percent due to power cuts, which gripped the country last year.
The worst-performing sector for the year was agriculture, which shrank by 25.3 percent, the ANSD figures showed.
Like many other countries in the Sahel band that stretches across Africa just south of the Sahara, Senegal's rain-fed agriculture was hit by a poor rainy season last year.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senegal-stats-show-economy-grew-even-slower-2011-130507209.html
david guetta david guetta work of art iphone update iphone update blackberry outage blackberry outage
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন