Renewed donor support expected to boost growth

A decision to resume donor support to Burundi - even in the absence of a peace agreement at the Arusha peace talks - is expected to be reached early in the new year, which would probably raise real growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 5 percent in the year 2000 and 6 percent in 2001 from an estimated 3 percent this year, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reported on Tuesday. These performance forecasts were based on the assumption that the war would continue, depressing recovery in the agriculture-dominated economy, the EIU said, adding however that a larger than expected upsurge in fighting would depress the anticipated growth levels. On the political front, the EIU anticipated that the Burundian rebels would continue to collaborate closely with Rwandan Hutu rebel elements and that, for this reason, "the Rwandan and Burundian governments will come closer together on security, despite their mutual distrust." Burundian President Pierre Buyoya would also continue his efforts to woo South Africa, the report suggested.