The International Monetary Fund last week Wednesday forecast Rwanda’s economy to grow by 6.2 percent in 2017, slightly up from the 6 percent seen this year, boosted by increased coffee and domestic goods production.
Laure Redifer, an IMF official, told a news conference in the capital Kigali the higher forecast was based on “cycles in coffee production …(and) the increased production that we’re already seeing under the Made in Rwanda programme”.
Rwanda has recently encouraged citizens to buy locally made products rather than imported versions and some domestic producers have seen a surge in sales on the back of that campaign.
Redifer also said growth in 2018 is expected to be 6.6 percent, and this could have been higher but for an anticipated reduction in foreign aid for the budget.
Though Rwanda has made major economic strides since the 1994 genocide, the country still relies heavily on aid for public spending, especially on infrastructure.
“Given some budget support has been a little lower than expected we anticipate that investment spending might be a bit lower in the next couple of years,” Redifer said.
