GUINEA
Mining taxed cut to lure cash
Guinea’s National Transitional Council had amended the mining code to reduce some taxes, in an effort to improve the investment climate, a government official said yesterday. Amadou Camara, a member of the council, said that the changes cut taxes on mining profits to 30 percent from 35 percent and slashed the tax on bauxite to 0.15 percent of the international market price for aluminium, from 0.55 percent. – Reuters
MAURITIUS
Growth to stall at 3.7% – IMF
Mauritius’s economy would expand by 3.7 percent this year, slightly below potential due to subdued demand from its main markets and modest private investment, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday. Growth would accelerate to 4.4 percent in 2014. The Washington-based body estimated gross domestic product grew 3.3 percent in 2012 and said that external shocks posed the largest risk to the outlook. The IMF said that inflation would be about 5 percent this year. – Reuters
EGYPT
Fuel shortages hit cement firm
A lack of fuel supplies had forced Suez Cement to cut production by as much as 30 percent this year, Egypt’s biggest cement maker by market value said on Monday. “A lack of fuel supplies has cut our annual production of 12 million tons by between 20 percent and 30 percent since the start of the year,” said Mohamed Shanan, the director of business development at Suez Cement, a subsidiary of Italcementi. “Any increase in [fuel] prices must be matched by an increase in cement prices,” Shanan said. – Reuters