Tue Dec 3, 2013 12:02pm EST
* Gabon's mining output grows after logistics problems
* Sees budget surplus of 30.9 billion CFA Francs
* Plans to choose Belinga iron ore partner in 2015 (Recasts, adds detail on mining sector, Belinga project)
By Jean Rovys Dabany and Emma Farge
LIBREVILLE/DAKAR, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Gabon expects economic growth to accelerate to 7.8 percent and a budget back in surplus in 2014 as higher gold and manganese output adds to oil revenue, according to a bond issue prospectus.
But no decision will be made on developing its giant Belinga iron ore project until 2015, suggesting the central African country will remain deeply reliant on oil which now accounts for more than 40 percent of GDP.
The IMF has previously said it expects Gabon's economy to grow by 6.8 percent in 2014.
Gabon's growth forecast, included in the document sent to investors ahead of a planned 10-year Eurobond issue, compares with estimated GDP growth of 6.1 percent in 2013.
The 178-page document, seen by Reuters this week, showed that Gabon would return to a budget surplus of 30.9 billion CFA Francs ($63.86 million) next year.
A parliamentarian who asked not to be named said the figures matched those in a draft budget to be finalised this month.
Gabon's income per capita is four times higher than the sub-Saharan average, but a third of its 1.6 million people live in poverty.
HIGHER OUTPUT
Higher mining output is fuelling the acceleration of Gabon's economy, after a series of logistical problems and train derailments hit the sector last year.
Gabon, a top producer of manganese used for steel-making, expects mining production to grow by 27.5 percent in 2013 and a further 12.5 percent in 2014, the bond note said.
It said higher output would come from manganese fields operated by the Industrial and Commercial Mining Company of Huazhou (CICMHZ) and a gold field operated by Morocco's Managem.
The note also said the government would choose a new partner for the Belinga iron ore deposit in 2015 after settling a dispute with China's Comibel last month.
"An amicable agreement was signed in Paris on 19 November 2013 under which Gabon agreed to pay for Comibel's previously incurred expenses," it said, without specifying the amount.
The bond note listed possible risks to Gabon's economy as "the lack of an effective opposition" to President Ali Bongo's party and the "failure to adequately address actual and perceived risks of corruption".
Since his election in 2009, Bongo has launched several reforms aimed at reducing corruption in Gabon.
($1 = 483.8690 CFA francs) (Reporting by Jean Rovys Dabany and Emma Farge; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
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