Kinshasa - Democratic Republic of Congo plans to raise government spending next year on the back of forecast economic growth of 8.7 percent, according to a statement from a cabinet meeting.
The government expects gross domestic product to rise to 21.8 trillion Congolese francs ($24 billion) in 2014, allowing it to increase budgeted spending by 5 percent to 7.6 trillion francs.
The growth forecast is more conservative than a recent International Monetary Fund prediction of 10.5 percent, though the Fund downgraded its 2013 forecast to 6.2 percent from 8.2 percent due to delays in some mining projects.
The government would mobilise budget resources for investments, particularly to the mining and oil sectors, to make Congo a middle-income country by 2018, the statement said.
Congo's technocrat Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo has won praise from donors for spurring economic growth and reining in inflation from double-digit levels in 2011 to around 2 percent at present.
But the country still ranked bottom of the UN development index this year.
According to IMF data, the mining and oil sectors contribute 17.1 percent of GDP.
Two decades of conflict in eastern Congo - fuelled by ethnic tensions and rivalry for control of deposits of gold, tin ore cassiterite and the coltan ore used in electronic products - have killed millions of people, many through hunger and disease, and deterred investment.
President Joseph Kabila received a boost last month with the military defeat of the most important rebel group in eastern Congo, M23. He has also pledged to create a government of national unity to end years of political conflict following his contested 2011 election victory.
The government's development strategy also includes the rapid electrification of rural areas, and support for small and medium-sized businesses with the aim of fostering development of a middle class.
The IMF has called on the government to continue to keep a tight control on spending and debt while encouraging private investment in infrastructure in order to make public finances more sustainable and fuel growth. - Reuters