s landlocked position, a poor
transportation system, a largely unskilled work force, and a legacy
of misdirected macroeconomic policies. A major plus is the large
forest reserves, which the government is moving to protect from
overexploitation. The 50% devaluation of the currencies of 14
Francophone African nations on 12 January 1994 had mixed effects on
the CAR's economy. While diamond, timber, coffee, and cotton exports
increased - leading GDP to increase by 5.5% - inflation rose to 45%,
fueled by the rising prices of imports on which the economy depends;
inflation dropped back rapidly in 1995. The CAR's poor resource base
and primitive infrastructure will keep it dependent on multilateral
donors and France for the foreseeable future.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.5 billion (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate: 4.1% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $800 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 50%
industry: 14%
services: 36% (1993)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 45% (1994 est.)

Labor force: 775,413 (1986 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 85%, commerce and services 9%, industry
3%, government 3%
note: about 64,000 salaried workers (1985)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries: diamond mining, sawmills, breweries, textiles,
footwear, assembly of bicycles and motorcycles

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity:
capacity: 40,000 kW
production: 100 million kWh
consumption per capita: 29 kWh (1993)

Agriculture: cotton, coffee, tobacco, manioc (tapioca), yams,
millet, corn, bananas; timber

Exports: $154 million (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: diamonds, timber, cotton, coffee, tobacco
partners: France, Belgium, Italy, Japan, US, Spain, Iran

Imports: $215 million (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: food, textiles, petroleum products, machinery,
electrical equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
consumer goods, industrial products
partners: France, other EC countries, Japan, Algeria, Cameroon,
Namibia

External debt: $904.3 million (1993 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA

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

Exchange rates: CFA francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 500.56 (January
1996), 499.15 (1995), 555.20 (1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992),
282.11 (1991)
note: beginning