COTE D'IVOIRE-ECONOMICS: THE ART OF TELLING HALF THE STORY

• by IPS Correspondents (abidjan)
• Friday, December 30, 1994
• Inter Press Service

ABIDJAN, Dic 30 (IPS) - IMAGINE THE PRESENTATION OF A BUDGET THAT GIVES NO BREAKDOWN PER SECTOR AND FAILS TO SAY HOW MUCH THE GOVERNMENT AIMS TO RAKE IN IN THE COMING FISCAL YEAR.

NOTHING IMAGINARY ABOUT IT. THE 1995 BUDGET PRESENTED IN COTE D'IVOIRE'S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FITS THAT DESCRIPTION EXACTLY.

FINANCE MINISTER NGORAN NIAMIEN ANNOUNCED THAT RECURRENT EXPENDITURE WOULD AMOUNT TO SOME 560 BILLION CFA FRANCS, A 12- PERCENT INCREASE ON LAST YEAR'S FIGURE ALTHOUGH, SINCE THE CFA FRANC'S EXCHANGE RATE WAS HALVED IN JANUARY 1994, THIS YEAR'S AMOUNT IS MUCH LESS THAN LAST YEAR'S IN HARD CURRENCY TERMS.

THE CFA NOW STANDS AT 540 CFA TO ONE U.S. DOLLAR AS AGAINST 300 TO ONE IN DECEMBER 1994.

NIAMIEN ALSO DISCLOSED THAT 260.2 BILLION CFA FRANCS WOULD GO TOWARDS INVESTMENT PROJECTS, AN 18-PERCENT INCREASE ON THE 1994 FIGURE IN CFA TERMS.

AND HE TOOK PAINS TO MENTION THAT THE BUDGET "IS AIMED AT ENCOURAGING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (AND) PRIVATE INVESTMENT, AND PUT IN PLACE THE NECESSARY STRUCTURES WHICH COULD ENCOURAGE THE GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT."

BUT WHILE THE OPPOSITION SUSPECTS THAT COTE D'IVOIRE'S GOVERNMENT SPENT MORE THAN IT EARNED LAST YEAR AND THAT THIS YEAR WILL BE NO DIFFERENT, ALL IT CAN DO IS SPECULATE. NEITHER THE 1994 NOR THE 1995 BUDGET PRESENTATIONS GAVE AN ESTIMATE OF THE STATE'S INCOME.

SMALL WONDER THEN THAT THE 11 OPPOSITION PARLIAMENTARIANS IN COTE D'IVOIRE'S 180-SEAT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY REFUSED TO ATTEND WEDNESDAY'S PRESENTATION, AS THEY DID WHEN THE 1994 BUDGET WAS PRESENTED.

THEY DID, HOWEVER, LASH OUT AT THE PART OF THE BUDGET THAT WAS, IN FACT, PRESENTED TO THE LEGISLATIVE COLLEGE AND THE PUBLIC.

"THE BUDGET, AS IT STANDS, DOES NOT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION DEVELOPMENT-ORIENTED PROJECTS WHICH COULD AMELIORATE THE LIVING CONDITIONS OF THE POOR," CHARGED FRANCIS WODIE, LEADER OF THE IVOIRIAN WORKERS PARTY (PIT).

"IN ADDITION, THE GOVERNMENT HAS REFUSED TO TELL US WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED UNDER THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S BUDGET," ADDED WODIE, A UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR.

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