t the economy.

New Caledonia
New Caledonia has about 25% of the world's known
nickel resources. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for
cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition
to nickel, substantial financial support from France - equal to more
than 15% of GDP - and tourism are keys to the health of the economy.
Substantial new investment in the nickel industry, combined with the
recovery of global nickel prices, brightens the economic outlook for
the next several years.

New Zealand
Over the past 20 years the government has transformed
New Zealand from an agrarian economy dependent on concessionary
British market access to a more industrialized, free market economy
that can compete globally. This dynamic growth has boosted real
incomes - but left behind many at the bottom of the ladder - and
broadened and deepened the technological capabilities of the
industrial sector. Per capita income has risen for eight consecutive
years and reached $27,300 in 2007 in purchasing power parity terms.
Consumer and government spending have driven growth in recent years,
and exports picked up in 2006 after struggling for several years.
Exports were equal to about 22% of GDP in 2007, down from 33% of GDP
in 2001. Thus far the economy has been resilient, and the Labor
Government promises that expenditures on health, education, and
pensions will increase proportionately to output. Inflationary
pressures have built in recent years and the central bank raised its
key rate 13 times since January 2004 to finish 2007 at 8.25%. A
large balance of payments deficit poses another challenge in
managing the economy.

Nicaragua
Nicaragua has widespread underemployment, one of the
highest degrees of income inequality in the world, and the third
lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere. While the
country has progressed toward macroeconomic stability in the past
few years, annual GDP growth has been far too low to meet the
country's needs, forcing the country to rely on international
economic assistance to meet fiscal and debt financing obligations.
In early 2004, Nicaragua secured some $4.5 billion in foreign debt
reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
initiative, and in October 2007, the IMF approved a new poverty
reduction and growth facility (PRGF) program that should create
fiscal space for social spe