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:Sierra Leone Economy

Overview:
The economic and social infrastructure is not well developed. Subsistence
agriculture dominates the economy, generating about one-third of GDP and
employing about two-thirds of the working population. Manufacturing, which
accounts for roughly 10% of GDP, consists mainly of the processing of raw
materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Diamond mining
provides an important source of hard currency. The economy suffers from high
unemployment, rising inflation, large trade deficits, and a growing
dependency on foreign assistance. The government in 1990 was attempting to
get the budget deficit under control and, in general, to bring economic
policy in line with the recommendations of the IMF and the World Bank. Since
March 1991, however, military incursions by Liberian rebels in southern and
eastern Sierra Leone have severely strained the economy and have undermined
efforts to institute economic reforms.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $1.4 billion, per capita $330; real growth rate
3% (FY91 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
110% (1990)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $134 million; expenditures $187 million, including capital
expenditures of $32 million (FY91 est.)
Exports:
$138 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
rutile 50%, bauxite 17%, cocoa 11%, diamonds 3%, coffee 3%
partners:
US, UK, Belgium, FRG, other Western Europe
Imports:
$146 million (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
capital goods 40%, food 32%, petroleum 12%, consumer goods 7%, light
industrial goods
partners:
US, EC, Japan, China, Nigeria
External debt:
$572 million (1990)
Industrial production:
NA
Electricity:
85,000 kW capacity; 185 million kWh produced, 45 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
mining (diamonds, bauxite, rutile), small-scale manufacturing (beverages,
textiles, cigarettes, footwear), petroleum refinery
Agriculture:
accounts for over 30% of GDP and two-thirds of the labor force; largely
subsistence farming; cash crops - coffee, cocoa, palm kernels; harvests of
food staple rice meets 80% of domestic needs; annual fish catch averages
53,000 metric tons
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $161