NIGER has cut its planned spending in 2023 by 40% because of international sanctions imposed after the military took power in a July coup, further hobbling the economy in one of the world's poorest countries, the junta said in a televised statement. The statement said this year's budget, initially forecast at 3.29 trillion CFA francs ($5.3 billion), was slashed to 1.98 trillion, without detailing where the cuts would fall. Soldiers from the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and set up a transitional government, one of the recent coups in West Africa's Sahel region. The takeover prompted…