ered in the white
band; similar to the flag of India, which has a blue spoked wheel
centered in the white band

@Niger:Economy

Overview: Niger is one of the world's poorest countries, with GDP
growth lagging behind the rapid growth of population. The economy is
centered on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, and reexport
trade, and increasingly less on uranium, its major export throughout
the 1970s and 1980s. Uranium revenues dropped by almost 50% between
1983 and 1990 with the end of the uranium boom. Terms of trade with
Nigeria, Niger's largest regional trade partner, have improved
dramatically since the 50% devaluation of the African franc in January
1994; this devaluation boosted exports of livestock, peas, onions, and
the products of Niger's small cotton industry. The government relies
on bilateral and multilateral aid for operating expenses and public
investment and is strongly induced to adhere to structural adjustment
programs designed by the IMF and the World Bank.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $4.6 billion (1993
est.)

National product real growth rate: 1.4% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $550 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $188 million
expenditures: $400 million, including capital expenditures of $125
million (1993 est.)

Exports: $246 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities: uranium ore 67%, livestock products 20%, cowpeas, onions
partners: France 77%, Nigeria 8%, Cote d'Ivoire, Italy

Imports: $286 million (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities: consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles
and parts, petroleum, cereals
partners: France 23%, Cote d'Ivoire, Germany, Italy, Japan

External debt: $1.2 billion (December 1991 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate -2.7% (1992 est.); accounts for 15%
of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 60,000 kW
production: 200 million kWh
consumption per capita: 42 kWh (1992)

Industries: cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals,
slaughterhouses, and a few other small light industries; uranium
mining began in 1971

Agriculture: accounts for roughly 40% of GDP and 90% of labor force;
cash crops - cowpeas, cotton, peanuts; food crops - millet, sorghum,
cassava, rice; livestock - cattle, sheep, goats; self-sufficient in
food except in drought years

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, inclu