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Economy -
overview: |
Subsistence
agriculture, together with forestry, remains the backbone of the
economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with more than 70% of
the population living in outlying areas. The agricultural sector
generates half of GDP. Timber has accounted for about 16% of export
earnings and the diamond industry for 54%. Important constraints to
economic development include the CAR's landlocked position, a poor
transportation system, a largely unskilled work force, and a legacy of
misdirected macroeconomic policies. Factional fighting between the
government and its opponents remains a drag on economic
revitalization, with GDP likely to contract in 2004. Distribution of
income is extraordinarily unequal. Grants from France and the
international community can only partially meet humanitarian needs.
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|
GDP: |
purchasing power parity
- $4.183 billion (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - real
growth rate: |
-7% (2003 est.)
|
|
GDP - per
capita: |
purchasing power parity
- $1,100 (2003 est.) |
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GDP -
composition by sector: |
agriculture:
55%
industry: 20%
services: 25% (2001 est.) |
|
Population
below poverty line: |
NA (1993) |
|
Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
0.7%
highest 10%: 47.7% (1993) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
61.3 (1993)
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|
Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
3.6% (2001 est.)
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|
Labor
force: |
NA (2000 est.)
|
|
Unemployment rate: |
8% (23% for Bangui)
(2001 est.) |
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Budget: |
revenues:
NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA
|
|
Agriculture - products: |
cotton, coffee,
tobacco, manioc (tapioca), yams, millet, corn, bananas; timber
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Industries: |
diamond mining,
logging, brewing, textiles, footwear, assembly of bicycles and
motorcycles |
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Industrial
production growth rate: |
3% (2002) |
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Electricity - production: |
106 million kWh (2001)
|
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Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel:
19.8%
hydro: 80.2%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0% |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
98.63 million kWh
(2001) |
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Electricity - exports: |
0 kWh (2001)
|
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Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (2001)
|
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Oil -
production: |
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
|
|
Oil -
consumption: |
2,400 bbl/day (2001
est.) |
|
Oil -
exports: |
NA (2001) |
|
Oil -
imports: |
NA (2001) |
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Exports: |
$172 million
f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
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Exports -
commodities: |
diamonds, timber,
cotton, coffee, tobacco |
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Exports -
partners: |
Belgium 42.5%, Italy
10.8%, Spain 10%, France 7.5%, Indonesia 6.7% (2003 est.) |
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Imports: |
$136 million
f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
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Imports -
commodities: |
food, textiles,
petroleum products, machinery, electrical equipment, motor vehicles,
chemicals, pharmaceuticals |
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Imports -
partners: |
France 27%, Cameroon
9.2%, US 5.3% (2003 est.) |
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Debt -
external: |
$881.4 million (2000
est.) |
|
Economic
aid - recipient: |
ODA $73 million; note -
traditional budget subsidies from France (2000 est.) |
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Currency: |
Communaute Financiere
Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the
Central African States |
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Currency
code: |
XAF |
|
Exchange
rates: |
Communaute Financiere
Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 581.2 (2003), 696.988 (2002),
733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699 (1999) |
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Fiscal
year: |
calendar year
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