West Africa’s Monetary Union Sees Growth Risks ‘Reduced’

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Risks to economic growth in West Africa’s eight-member monetary union “should be reduced by a series of favorable factors,” said Jose Mario Vaz, Guinea- Bissau’s finance minister and president of the Council of Ministers in the region’s central bank.

Recovery in Ivory Coast, the group’s biggest economy, as well as increased agricultural production and improved public- finance management may spur growth this year, he said at a meeting of finance ministers from the member nations in Dakar, Senegal, today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Drew Hinshaw in Dakar at dhinshaw@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emily Bowers at ebowers1@bloomberg.net