the country one of the world's poorest. Most formal transactions are
conducted in hard currency as indigenous banknotes have lost almost all
value, and a barter economy now flourishes in all but the largest cities.
Most individuals and families hang on grimly through subsistence farming and
petty trade. The government has not been able to meet its financial
obligations to the International Momentary Fund or put in place the
financial measures advocated by the IMF. Although short-term prospects for
improvement are dim, improved political stability would boost Zaire's
long-term potential to effectively exploit its vast wealth of mineral and
agricultural resources.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $9.2 billion (1992, at 1990 exchange rate)
National product real growth rate:
-6% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$235 (1992, at 1990 exchange rate)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
35-40% per month (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $NA, expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities:
copper, coffee, diamonds, cobalt, crude oil
partners:
US, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Japan, South Africa
Imports:
$1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities:
consumer goods, foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment,
fuels
partners:
South Africa, US, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK
External debt:
$9.2 billion (May 1992 est.)
Industrial production:
growth grate NA%
Electricity:
2,580,000 kW capacity; 6,000 million kWh produced, 160 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
mining, mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear,
and cigarettes), processed foods and beverages, cement, diamonds
Agriculture:
cash crops - coffee, palm oil, rubber, quinine; food crops - cassava,
bananas, root crops, corn
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for domestic consumption
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.1 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $6.9 billion; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $35 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $263
million; except for humanitarian aid to private organizations, no US
assistance was given to Zaire in 1992

*Zaire, Economy

Currency:
1 zaire (Z) = 100 makuta
Exchange rates:
zaire (Z)