iscipline.
France provided additional financial support in January 1997 after
Gabon had met IMF targets for mid-1996. In 1997, an IMF mission to
Gabon criticized the government for overspending on off-budget
items, overborrowing from the central bank, and slipping on its
schedule for privatization and administrative reform. The rebound of
oil prices in 1999-2000 helped growth, but drops in production
hampered Gabon from fully realizing potential gains. An expected
decline in oil output may lead to contraction in GDP in 2001-02.

Gambia, The:
The Gambia has no important mineral or other natural
resources and has a limited agricultural base. About 75% of the
population depends on crops and livestock for its livelihood.
Small-scale manufacturing activity features the processing of
peanuts, fish, and hides. Reexport trade normally constitutes a
major segment of economic activity, but a 1999 government-imposed
preshipment inspection plan, instability of the Gambian dalasi, and
the stable political situation in Senegal have drawn some of the
reexport trade away from Banjul. The government's 1998 seizure of
the private peanut firm Alimenta eliminated the largest purchaser of
Gambian groundnuts; the following two marketing seasons have seen
significantly lower prices and sales. A decline in tourism from 1999
to 2000 has also held back growth. Unemployment and underemployment
rates are extremely high. Shortrun economic progress remains highly
dependent on sustained bilateral and multilateral aid, on
responsible government economic management as forwarded by IMF
technical help and advice, and on expected growth in the
construction sector.

Gaza Strip:
Economic output in the Gaza Strip - which comes under
the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo
Agreement of May 1994 - declined perhaps one-third between 1992 and
1996. The downturn was largely the result of Israeli closure
policies - the imposition of generalized border closures in response
to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted previously
established labor and commodity market relationships between Israel
and the WBGS (West Bank and Gaza Strip). The most serious negative
social effect of this downturn was the emergence of high
unemployment; unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was
generally under 5%; by 1995 it had risen to over 20%. Since 1997
Israel's use of co