The Mozambican economy in 2012 is expected to post growth of 7.5 percent, which is higher than the 7.3 percent posted in 2011, the representative in Mozambique of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in Maputo.

Growth expected for this year should be driven by a clearly expanding mining sector and, particularly, by the quick launch of coal production ad exports, as well as the performance of the transport and communications sector,” said Victor Ledó.

For next year, according to the IMF, gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to increase to 8.4 percent, although there are risks of a slowdown due to the global economic outlook which may also moderate external demand.

“In the mid term, that is over the next five years, growth is expected to total between 7.5 percent and 8 percent, bolstered by large public investments in infrastructure and the activity of mega projects in the natural resources sector, including liquid natural gas,” said Ledó.

“For this year we expect inflation to remain at a single digit, although we also expect some rise in the price of grains such as, for example, maize and, from a seasonal point of view, some increase in inflation in the final quarter of the year,” he said. (macauhub)