ning sector, the country has seen an
upswing in gold exploration and production. While the bitter
internal crisis in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire is beginning to be
resolved, it is still having a negative effect on Burkina Faso's
trade and employment. In 2007 higher costs for energy and imported
foodstuffs, as well as low cotton prices, dampened a GDP growth rate
that had averaged 6% in the last 10 years. Burkina Faso received a
Millennium Challenge Account threshold grant to improve girls'
education at the primary school level, and appears likely to receive
a grant in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, and land reform.

Burma
Burma, a resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive
government controls, inefficient economic policies, and rural
poverty. The junta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the
economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to
Socialism," but those efforts stalled, and some of the
liberalization measures were rescinded. Despite Burma's increasing
oil and gas revenue, socio-economic conditions have deteriorated due
to the regime's mismanagement of the economy. Lacking monetary or
fiscal stability, the economy suffers from serious macroeconomic
imbalances - including rising inflation, fiscal deficits, multiple
official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat, a distorted
interest rate regime, unreliable statistics, and an inability to
reconcile national accounts to determine a realistic GDP figure.
Most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta began to
suppress the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently refused to
honor the results of the 1990 legislative elections. In response to
the government of Burma's attack in May 2003 on AUNG SAN SUU KYI and
her convoy, the US imposed new economic sanctions in August 2003
including a ban on imports of Burmese products and a ban on
provision of financial services by US persons. Further, a poor
investment climate hampers attracting outside investment slowing the
inflow of foreign exchange. The most productive sectors will
continue to be in extractive industries, especially oil and gas,
mining, and timber with the latter especially causing environmental
degradation. Other areas, such as manufacturing and services, are
struggling with inadequate infrastructure, unpredictable
import/export policies, deteriorating health and education systems,
a