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Madagascar's failed coup deals fresh blow to crippled economy
Madagascar's government hoped last week's referendum on a new constitution would ease the nation's political and economic isolation. Instead, a coup attempt on the day of the vote plunged the economy deeper into turmoil.
"It's a step back," Lydie Boka, the director of Lille- based risk analysis group StrategiCo., said by phone on Nov. 19. "In order for the EU or U.S. to come back there needs to be a return to political stability."
The European Union and the U.S. halted non-humanitarian aid to Madagascar after President Andry Rajoelina, a former DJ and mayor of Antananarivo, the capital, seized power from his predecessor Marc Ravalomanana with the help of the military in March last year and later reneged on power-sharing agreements. On Nov. 17, 20 senior officers turned against him, demanding that he hand power to the army.
The withdrawal of aid, which represented two-thirds of the Indian Ocean island nation's budget, led the economy to contract 3.7 percent in 2009 and 2 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, making Madagascar the only African economy to shrink this year.