Republic of the Congo/Economy

Economy - overview: The economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector based largely on oil, support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing a major share of government revenues and exports. In the early 1980s, rapidly rising oil revenues enabled the government to finance large-scale development projects with GDP growth averaging 5% annually, one of the highest rates in Africa. Moreover, the government has mortgaged a substantial portion of its oil earnings, contributing to the government's shortage of revenues. The 12 January 1994 devaluation of Franc Zone currencies by 50% resulted in inflation of 61% in 1994 but inflation has subsided since. Economic reform efforts continued with the support of international organizations, notably the World Bank and the IMF. The reform program came to a halt in June 1997 when civil war erupted. Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO, who returned to power when the war ended in October 1997, publicly expressed interest in moving forward on economic reforms and privatization and in renewing cooperation with international financial institutions. However, economic progress was badly hurt by slumping oil prices in 1998, which worsened the Republic of the Congo's budget deficit. A second blow was the resumption of armed conflict in December 1998. Even with high world oil prices, Congo is unlikely to realize growth of more than 5% in 2000-01.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $4.15 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,530 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10%
industry: 59%
services: 31% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (1999 est.)

Labor force: NA

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $870 million
expenditures: $970 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)

Industries: petroleum extraction, cement kilning, lumbering, brewing, sugar milling, palm oil, soap, cigarette making

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 503 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 0.6%
hydro: 99.4%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 588 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 120 million kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: cassava (tapioca), sugar, rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables, coffee, cocoa; forest products

Exports: $1.7 billion (f.o.b., 1999)

Exports - commodities: petroleum 50%, lumber, plywood, sugar, cocoa, coffee, diamonds

Exports - partners: US 23%, Benelux 14%, Germany, Italy, Taiwan, China (1998)

Imports: $770 million (f.o.b., 1999)

Imports - commodities: petroleum products, capital equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs

Imports - partners: France 23%, US 9%, Belgium 8%, UK 7%, Italy (1997 est.)

Debt - external: $5 billion (1997)

Economic aid - recipient: $159.1 million (1995)

Currency: 1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 647.25 (January 2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995)

Fiscal year: calendar year