DRC growth at 10% by end of '08
The Democratic Republic of Congo's economy will grow by 10% by the end of 2008, while inflation was seen accelerating, central bank Governor Jean-Claude Masangu said on Tuesday.
"By the end of 2008 GDP growth will have reached 10%," he said at the opening of a Standard Bank branch in Lubumbashi, the largest city in the heart of the Congo's Katanga mining region.
Mining interest has boomed in the mineral-rich central African country since the election in 2006 of its first democratically-elected leader in more than four decades.
Formerly known as Zaire, Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa's third-largest country, covering almost 2,3 million km2 - nearly 80 times larger than former colonial master Belgium.
The economy suffered under decades of kleptocratic rule under late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and violence since his overthrow in 1997.
Masangu also said inflation was seen averaging 21,5% for 2008, up from 9,8% at the end of 2007, largely due to rising international food and fuel costs.
"We have a target of 21,5%. Last year it was 9,8%. Part of it is imported inflation in the form of fuel and food," he said.
