shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center

Economy

Economy--overview: Since 1993, the government of Kenya has
implemented a program of economic liberalization and reform. Steps
have included the removal of import licensing and price controls,
removal of foreign exchange controls, fiscal and monetary restraint,
and reduction of the public sector through privatizing publicly
owned companies and downsizing the civil service. With the support
of the World Bank, IMF, and other donors, these reforms have led to
a turnaround in economic performance following a period of negative
growth in the early 1990s. Kenya's real GDP grew at 5% in 1995 and
4% in 1996, and inflation remained under control. Growth slowed in
1997-98. Political violence damaged the tourist industry, and the
IMF allowed Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program to lapse
due to the government's failure to enact reform conditions and to
adequately address public sector corruption. Moreover, El Nino rains
destroyed crops and damaged an already crumbling infrastructure in
1997 and 1998. Long-term barriers to development include electricity
shortages, the government's continued and inefficient dominance of
key sectors, endemic corruption, and the country's high population
growth rate.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$43.9 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 1.6% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$1,550 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 29%
industry: 17%
services: 54% (1997)

Population below poverty line: 42% (1992 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 47.7% (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.5% (1998)

Labor force: 9.2 million (1998 est.)

Labor force--by occupation: agriculture 75%-80%, nonagriculture
20%-25%

Unemployment rate: 50% (1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.6 billion
expenditures: $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1997 est.)

Industries: small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture,
batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products
processing; oil refining, cement; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 3.8% (1995)

Electricity--production: 3.81 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 10.5%
hydro: 81.63%
nuclear: 0%
other: 7.87% (1996)

Electricity