years the government has
poorly managed the country's finances. The new prime minister has
vowed to cut expenditures and to promote the private sector to boost
economic growth.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$1.27 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 3.5% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$3,000 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 11.8% (1996)

Labor force:
total: 26,842
by occupation: services 41.5%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing
23.7%, commerce, transport, and finance 21.7%, construction,
manufacturing, and mining 13.1% (1992 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $147 million
expenditures: $168 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1997 est.)

Industries: copra, fish (tuna)

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity-capacity: 12,000 kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 30 million kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 75 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: cocoa, beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice,
potatoes, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs; timber; fish

Exports:
total value: $168 million (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: timber, fish, palm oil, cocoa, copra
partners: Japan 39%, UK 23%, Thailand 9%, Australia 5%, US 2% (1991)

Imports:
total value: $152 million (c.i.f., 1995 est.)
commodities: plant and machinery, manufactured goods, food and live
animals, fuel
partners: Australia 34%, Japan 16%, Singapore 14%, NZ 9%

Debt-external: $100 million (1995 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $8.625 million from Australia (FY96/97 est.); $3.3
million from NZ (FY95/96)

Currency: 1 Solomon Islands dollar (SI$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Solomon Islands dollars (SI$) per US$1-3.7580
(November 1997), 3.5664 (1997), 3.4059 (1995), 3.2914 (1994), 3.1877
(1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 5,000 (1991 est.)

Telephone system:
domestic: NA
international: satellite earth station-1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 0, shortwave 0

Radios: 38,000 (1993 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 0

Televisions: 2,000 (1992 est.)

@Solomon Islands:Transportation

Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 1,360 km
paved: 34 km
unpaved: 1,326 km (includes about 800 km of private plantation roads)
(1996 est.)

Ports and harbors: Aola Bay, Honiara, Lofung, Noro, Viru Harbor,
Yandina

Merchan