cial and private
creditors. Devaluation of its Francophone currency by 50% on 12 January
1994 sparked a one-time inflationary surge, to 35%; the rate dropped to
6% in 1996. The IMF provided a one-year standby arrangement in 1994-95,
a three-year Enhanced Financing Facility (EFF) at near commercial rates
beginning in late 1995, and stand-by credit of $119 million in October
2000. Those agreements mandate progress in privatization and fiscal
discipline. France provided additional financial support in January 1997
after Gabon had met IMF targets for mid-1996. In 1997, an IMF mission to
Gabon criticized the government for overspending on off-budget items,
overborrowing from the central bank, and slipping on its schedule for
privatization and administrative reform. The rebound of oil prices in
1999-2000 helped growth, but drops in production hampered Gabon from
fully realizing potential gains. In December 2000, Gabon signed a new
agreement with the Paris Club to reschedule its official debt. A follow-up
bilateral repayment agreement with the US was signed in December 2001.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $6.7 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.5% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,500 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 10% industry: 60% services:
30% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 600,000

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 60%, services and government
25%, industry and commerce 15%

Unemployment rate: 21% (1997 est.)

Budget: revenues: $1.8 billion expenditures: $1.8 billion, including
capital expenditures of $310 million (2002 est.)

Industries: food and beverage; textile; lumbering and plywood; cement;
petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, and gold mining; chemicals;
ship repair

Industrial production growth rate: -6.4% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production: 850 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 29.41% hydro: 70.59%
other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 790.5 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle;
okoume (a tropical softwood); fish

Exports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b.,