Economy (Rwanda)
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     Overview:
         Almost 50% of GDP comes from the agricultural sector; coffee and tea make up
         80-90% of total exports. The amount of fertile land is limited, however, and
         deforestation and soil erosion have created problems. The industrial sector
         in Rwanda is small, contributing only 17% to GDP. Manufacturing focuses
         mainly on the processing of agricultural products. The Rwandan economy
         remains dependent on coffee exports and foreign aid. Weak international
         prices since 1986 have caused the economy to contract and per capita GDP to
         decline. A structural adjustment program with the World Bank began in
         October 1990. An outbreak of insurgency, also in October, has dampened any
         prospects for economic improvement.
     GDP:
         exchange rate conversion - $2.1 billion, per capita $300; real growth rate
         -6.8% (1990 est.)
     Inflation rate (consumer prices):
         4.2% (1990)
     Unemployment rate:
         NA%
     Budget:
         revenues $391 million; expenditures $491 million, including capital
         expenditures of $225 million (1989 est.)
     Exports:
         $111.7 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
       commodities:
         coffee 85%, tea, tin, cassiterite, wolframite, pyrethrum
       partners:
         Germany, Belgium, Italy, Uganda, UK, France, US
     Imports:
         $279.2 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
       commodities:
         textiles, foodstuffs, machines and equipment, capital goods, steel,
         petroleum products, cement and construction material
       partners:
         US, Belgium, Germany, Kenya, Japan
     External debt:
         $911 million (1990 est.)
     Industrial production:
         growth rate 1.2% (1988); accounts for 17% of GDP
     Electricity:
         30,000 kW capacity; 130 million kWh produced, 15 kWh per capita (1991)
     Industries:
         mining of cassiterite (tin ore) and wolframite (tungsten ore), tin, cement,
         agricultural processing, small-scale beverage production, soap, furniture,
         shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes
     Agriculture:
         accounts for almost 50% of GDP and about 90% of the labor force; cash crops
         - coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums); main food
         crops - bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; stock raising; self-sufficiency
         declining; country imports foodstuffs as farm production fails to keep up
         with a 3.8% annual growth in population
     Economic aid:
         US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $128 million; Western (non-US)
         countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2.0 billion; OPEC
         bilateral aid (1979-89), $45 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $58
         million; note - in October 1990 Rwanda launched a Structural Adjustment
         Program with the IMF; since September 1991, the EC has given $46 million and
         the US $25 million in support of this program
     Currency:
         Rwandan franc (plural - francs); 1 Rwandan franc (RF) = 100 centimes




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