can compete globally. This dynamic growth has boosted real
incomes (but left behind many at the bottom of the ladder),
broadened and deepened the technological capabilities of the
industrial sector, and contained inflationary pressures. Per capita
income has risen for eight consecutive years and was more than
$25,500 in 2006 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 are
equal to about 28% of GDP, down from 33 percent 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.

Nicaragua
Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere, has low per capita income and widespread
underemployment. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal
on the globe. While the country has progressed toward macroeconomic
stability in the past few years, GDP annual 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. Nicaragua qualified in early 2004 for some $4.5 billion
in foreign debt reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
(HIPC) initiative and in November 2006 obtained over $800 million in
debt relief from the Inter-American Development Bank. In October
2005, Nicaragua ratified the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA), which will provide an opportunity for Nicaragua to attract
investment, create jobs, and deepen economic development. Energy
shortages, however, are a serious bottleneck to growth.

Niger
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking
last on the United Nations Development Fund index of human
development. It is a landlocked, Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy
centers on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's
largest uranium deposits. Drought cycles, desertification, and a
2.9% population growth rate, have undercut the economy. Niger shares
a common currency, the CFA franc, and a common central bank, the
Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), with seven other
members of the West African Monetary Union. In December 2000, Niger
qualified for enhanced debt relief under the International Monetary
Fund pro