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The Central African Republic has slashed its 2001 budget by nearly one-third due to a failed coup attempt in May that compounded an already grave financial crisis, the leader of parliament told Reuters on Wednesday.
National Assembly President Appolinaire Dondon Konamabaye reported that the parliament had cut the 2001 budget by 31 percent because revenues were now expected to amount to just 81.66 billion CFA francs (US $114 million) instead of the 119.5 billion francs CFA ($167 million) originally forecast. "This revision is necessary due to the harmful consequences of the attempted coup," Reuters quoted Konamabaye as saying.
The country's political landscape and economy were already shattered by a series of mutinies in the 1990s, and government employees have remained unpaid for many months. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report last week that urgent aid was needed to help the country through the crisis. He called for more funds and a wider mandate for a UN peace-building mission already established in the country.
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