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Liberia Says Economic Growth to Stall on Ebola Outbreak
Liberia Says Economic Growth to Stall on Ebola Outbreak
17/10/2014 (Bloomberg) - Liberia’s economic growth will stall this year as the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola curtails mining and agricultural production, Finance Minister Amara Konneh said.
The government’s latest forecast is worse than the estimate by the World Bank, which last week cut growth projections to 2.5 percent for this year from 5.9 percent. ArcelorMittal delayed expansion plans at its iron-ore mine and Sime Darby Bhd reduced production of palm oil because of Ebola. Konneh told reporters in September the economy had entered a recession.
“Growth is expected to be zero percent in 2015,” Konneh said in an interview with Monrovia-based Front Page Africa, published on its website today. Ebola has “seriously affected economic activities and livelihoods throughout the country with domestic food production, mining activities, hospitality industry, and transport services all declining.”
The economies of West Africa may lose as much as $32 billion in gross domestic product through next year, sending Liberia and Guinea into recession, the World Bank said last week as part of a worst-case scenario. The disease has killed about 4,500 people since December in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, disrupting economic growth in three countries recovering from civil war and military rule.
Guinea has reduced its 2014 forecast of GDP growth to 2.4 percent from 4.5 percent because of Ebola, Budget Minister Ansoumane Conde told lawmakers in the capital, Conakry, yesterday.
“The forecasts are far from being realized mainly because of the socioeconomic impact of Ebola,” Conde said. The drop in economic activity caused by Ebola, particularly in industries such as air transport, hotel business and tourism, may lower government revenue by 630 billion Guinean francs ($88 million), he said.
The government’s latest forecast is worse than the estimate by the World Bank, which last week cut growth projections to 2.5 percent for this year from 5.9 percent. ArcelorMittal delayed expansion plans at its iron-ore mine and Sime Darby Bhd reduced production of palm oil because of Ebola. Konneh told reporters in September the economy had entered a recession.
“Growth is expected to be zero percent in 2015,” Konneh said in an interview with Monrovia-based Front Page Africa, published on its website today. Ebola has “seriously affected economic activities and livelihoods throughout the country with domestic food production, mining activities, hospitality industry, and transport services all declining.”
The economies of West Africa may lose as much as $32 billion in gross domestic product through next year, sending Liberia and Guinea into recession, the World Bank said last week as part of a worst-case scenario. The disease has killed about 4,500 people since December in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, disrupting economic growth in three countries recovering from civil war and military rule.
Guinea has reduced its 2014 forecast of GDP growth to 2.4 percent from 4.5 percent because of Ebola, Budget Minister Ansoumane Conde told lawmakers in the capital, Conakry, yesterday.
“The forecasts are far from being realized mainly because of the socioeconomic impact of Ebola,” Conde said. The drop in economic activity caused by Ebola, particularly in industries such as air transport, hotel business and tourism, may lower government revenue by 630 billion Guinean francs ($88 million), he said.