Congo Republic to cut 2018 spending by 9% as growth lags

Congo Republic's government said on Wednesday it planned to cut spending next year by 8.6% to 1.38-trillion CFA francs ($2.5-billion), following a 45% cut to the 2017 budget this month, as it seeks an International Monetary Fund bailout. The economy has been badly hit by low oil prices and poor fiscal management, causing total government revenue to slide by nearly a third since 2015 and public or publicly-guaranteed debt to surge to around 110% of GDP.