The 2004 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
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. Short-term progress depends on an upbeat world
economy and fiscal and other adjustments in line with IMF policies.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $7.301 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
1.2% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $5,500 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 8.1% industry: 48.8% services: 43.1% (2003 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
22.7% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line:
NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
0.5% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
610,000 (2003)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 60%, industry 15%, services 25%
Unemployment rate:
21% (1997 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $1.771 billion
expenditures: $1.413 billion, including capital expenditures of $310
million (2003 est.)
Public debt:
31.5% of GDP (2003)
Agriculture - products:
cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical
softwood); fish
Industries:
petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, and gold mining;
chemicals; ship repair; food and beverage; textile; lumbering and
plywood; cement
Industrial production growth rate:
1.6% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
798.4 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption:
742.5 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
301,300 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
13,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
2.45 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production:
80 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
80 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
66.47 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance:
$-101 million (2003)
Exports:
$2.891 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
crude oil 77%, timber, manganese, uranium (2001)
Exports - partners:
US 51.5%, France 8.7%, China 7.5%, Japan 4% (2003)
Imports:
$1.079 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction
materials
Imports - partners:
France 49.9%, US 5.3%, UK 4.6% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$201.9 million (2003)
Debt - external:
$3.284 billion (2003 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$331 million (1995)
Currency:
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible
authority is the Bank of the Central African States
Currency code:
XAF
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 581.2
(2003), 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699
(1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Gabon
Telephones - main lines in use:
38,400 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
300,000 (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: adequate service by African standards and
improving with the help of the growing mobile cell system
domestic: adequate system of cable, microwave radio relay,
tropospheric scatter, radiotelephone communication stations, and a
domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations
international: country code - 241; satellite earth stations - 3
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC)
provides connectivity to Europe and Asia