esumed lending, despite little action on the
government's part to deal with corruption. The scandals have not
weighed down growth, with estimated real GDP growth at more than 6
percent in 2007.

Kiribati
A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has
few natural resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were
exhausted at the time of independence from the UK in 1979. Copra and
fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy
has fluctuated widely in recent years. Economic development is
constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure,
and remoteness from international markets. Tourism provides more
than one-fifth of GDP. Private sector initiatives and a financial
sector are in the early stages of development. Foreign financial aid
from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China equals more than
10% of GDP. Remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad account
for more than $5 million each year. Kiribati receives around $15
million annually for the government budget from an Australian trust
fund.

Korea, North
North Korea, one of the world's most centrally directed
and least open economies, faces chronic economic problems.
Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of
years of underinvestment and shortages of spare parts. Industrial
and power output have declined in parallel from pre-1990 levels. Due
in part to severe summer flooding followed by dry weather conditions
in the fall of 2006, the nation suffered its 13th year of food
shortages because of on-going systemic problems including a lack of
arable land, collective farming practices, and persistent shortages
of tractors and fuel. During the summer of 2007, severe flooding
again occurred. Large-scale international food aid deliveries have
allowed the people of North Korea to escape widespread starvation
since famine threatened in 1995, but the population continues to
suffer from prolonged malnutrition and poor living conditions.
Large-scale military spending draws off resources needed for
investment and civilian consumption. Since 2002, the government has
formalized an arrangement whereby private "farmers' markets" were
allowed to begin selling a wider range of goods. It also permitted
some private farming on an experimental basis in an effort to boost
agricultural output. In October 2005, the government tried to