Mali is set to hold presidential elections in July, a Malian minister announced Thursday, dpa reports.
"The first round of the presidential election will take place on July 7," Moussa Coulibaly Sinko, Minister of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Regional Planning told a press conference.
He said the elections would cost 60 billion Central African Francs, about 122.2 million dollars.
Current President Dioncounda Traore was appointed for an interim period in April 2012 following a military coup that ousted former president Amadou Toumane Toure.
In January, a French-led military operation was launched to rout the Islamist rebels who have controlled Mali's north for nearly a year.
At the end of January, Mali's interim government agreed on a transition roadmap which included plans for the organization of elections.