Economy (Central African Republic)
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     Overview:
         Subsistence agriculture, including forestry, is the backbone of the CAR
         economy, with more than 70% of the population living in the countryside. In
         1988 the agricultural sector generated about 40% of GDP. Agricultural
         products accounted for about 60% of export earnings and the diamond industry
         for 30%. The country's 1991 budget deficit was US $70 million and in 1992 is
         expected to be about the same. Important constraints to economic development
         include the CAR's landlocked position, a poor transportation system, and a
         weak human resource base. Multilateral and bilateral development assistance,
         particularly from France, plays a major role in providing capital for new
         investment.
     GDP:
         exchange rate conversion - $1.3 billion, per capita $440; real growth rate -
         3.0% (1990 est.)
     Inflation rate (consumer prices):
         -3.0% (1990 est.)
     Unemployment rate:
         30% in Bangui (1988 est.)
     Budget:
         revenues $121 million; expenditures $193 million, including capital
         expenditures of $NA million (1991 est.)
     Exports:
         $151.3 million (1990 est.)
       commodities:
         diamonds, cotton, coffee, timber, tobacco
       partners:
         France, Belgium, Italy, Japan, US
     Imports:
         $214.5 million (1990 est.)
       commodities:
         food, textiles, petroleum products, machinery, electrical equipment, motor
         vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, industrial products
       partners:
         France, other EC countries, Japan, Algeria, Yugoslavia
     External debt:
         $700 million (1990 est.)
     Industrial production:
         0.8% (1988); accounts for 12% of GDP
     Electricity:
         40,000 kW capacity; 95 million kWh produced, 30 kWh per capita (1991)
     Industries:
         diamond mining, sawmills, breweries, textiles, footwear, assembly of
         bicycles and motorcycles
     Agriculture:
         accounts for 40% of GDP; self-sufficient in food production except for
         grain; commercial crops - cotton, coffee, tobacco, timber; food crops -
         manioc, yams, millet, corn, bananas
     Economic aid:
         US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $49 million; Western (non-US)
         countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.5 billion; OPEC
         bilateral aid (1979-89), $6 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $38
         million
     Currency:
         Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural - francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF)
         = 100 centimes
     Exchange rates:
         Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 269.01 (January
         1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54
         (1987)