Economics
Cocoa Plunge, Mutinous Army May Widen Ivory Coast Deficit
- IMF questions if fiscal-deficit target is still appropriate
- Cocoa prices have fallen from a six-year high in July
Ivorian workers empty bags of cocoa beans in a container at the Port of Abidjan.
Photographer: Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Tumbling cocoa prices and unscheduled payments to civil servants and mutinous soldiers in the past two months could widen Ivory Coast’s budget deficit and curb growth this year.
Cocoa prices have fallen by more than a third after reaching a six-year high in July, denting revenue for the world’s biggest producer of the chocolate ingredient. This year the West African country’s government has tried to defuse military and social unrest by agreeing to pay bonuses to soldiers and making some concessions to civil servants who led a strike earlier this year.