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Economy
Economy—overview: The discovery and exploitation of large oil reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth in recent years. Several large oil companies are expected to bid on oil licenses by May 1999. Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the deterioration of the rural economy under successive brutal regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth. A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of the government's gross corruption and mismanagement. Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium, iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold. The country responded favorably to the devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$660 million (1997 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: NA%
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$1,500 (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 46%
industry: 33%
services: 21% (1995 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption
by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (1996 est.)
Labor force: NA
Unemployment rate: 30% (1998 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $47 million
expenditures: $43 million, including capital expenditures of $7
million (1996 est.)
Industries: petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas
Industrial production growth rate: 7.4% (1994 est.)
Electricity—production: 19 million kWh (1996)
Electricity—production by
source:
fossil fuel: 89.47%
hydro: 10.53%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)
Electricity—consumption: 19 million kWh (1996)
Electricity—exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Electricity—imports: 0 kWh (1996)
Agriculture—products: coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts, manioc (tapioca); livestock; timber
Exports: $197 million (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
Exports—commodities: petroleum, timber, cocoa
Exports—partners: US 34%, Japan 17%, Spain 13%, China 13%, Nigeria
Imports: $248 million (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
Imports—commodities: petroleum, food, beverages, clothing, machinery
Imports—partners: Cameroon 40%, Spain 18%, France 14%, US 8%
Debt—external: $254 million (1996 est.)
Economic aid—recipient: $33.8 million (1995)
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) is used
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1—560.01 (December 1998), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995), 555.20 (1994)
Fiscal year: 1 April—31 March