a
mailing address:
P. O. Box 100098, Mamba Point, Monrovia, or APO AE 09813
telephone:
[231] 222991 through 222994
FAX:
[231] 223710
Flag:
11 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with
white; there is a white five-pointed star on a blue square in the
upper hoist-side corner; the design was based on the US flag

@Liberia, Economy

Overview:
Civil war since 1990 has destroyed much of Liberia's economy,
especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia. Businessmen have
fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them. Many will
not return. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and
a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a producer and
exporter of basic products, while local manufacturing, mainly foreign
owned, had been small in scope. Political instability threatens
prospects for economic reconstruction and repatriation of some 750,000
Liberian refugees who have fled to neighboring countries. The
political impasse between the interim government and rebel leader
Charles Taylor has prevented restoration of normal economic life,
including the re-establishment of a strong central government with
effective economic development programs.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $2.3 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
1.5% (1988)
National product per capita:
$800 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
12% (1989)
Unemployment rate:
43% urban (1988)
Budget:
revenues:
$242.1 million
expenditures:
$435.4 million, including capital expenditures of $29.5 million (1989
est.)
Exports:
$505 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.)
commodities:
iron ore 61%, rubber 20%, timber 11%, coffee
partners:
US, EC, Netherlands
Imports:
$394 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.)
commodities:
rice, mineral fuels, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment,
other foodstuffs
partners:
US, EC, Japan, China, Netherlands, ECOWAS
External debt:
$2.1 billion (September 1993 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate NA% (1993-94); much industrial damage caused by factional
warfare
Electricity:
capacity:
410,000 kW
production:
750 million kWh
consumption per capita:
275 kWh (1991)
Industries:
rubber processing, food processing, construction materials, furniture,
palm oil processing, mining (iron ore, diamonds)
Agriculture:
accounts for about 40% of GDP (in