Economy (Nauru)
===============


     Overview:
         Revenues come from the export of phosphates, the reserves of which are
         expected to be exhausted by the year 2000. Phosphates have given Nauruans
         one of the highest per capita incomes in the Third World - $10,000 annually.
         Few other resources exist, so most necessities must be imported, including
         fresh water from Australia. The rehabilitation of mined land and the
         replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term problems.
         Substantial amounts of phosphate income are invested in trust funds to help
         cushion the transition.
     GNP:
         exchange rate conversion - over $90 million, per capita $10,000; real growth
         rate NA% (1989)
     Inflation rate (consumer prices):
         NA%
     Unemployment rate:
         0%
     Budget:
         revenues $69.7 million; expenditures $51.5 million, including capital
         expenditures of $NA (FY86 est.)
     Exports:
         $93 million (f.o.b., 1984)
       commodities:
         phosphates
       partners:
         Australia, NZ
     Imports:
         $73 million (c.i.f., 1984)
       commodities:
         food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery
       partners:
         Australia, UK, NZ, Japan
     External debt:
         $33.3 million
     Industrial production:
         growth rate NA%
     Electricity:
         14,000 kW capacity; 50 million kWh produced, 5,430 kWh per capita (1990)
     Industries:
         phosphate mining, financial services, coconuts
     Agriculture:
         negligible; almost completely dependent on imports for food and water
     Economic aid:
         Western (non-US) countries (1970-89), $2 million
     Currency:
         Australian dollar (plural - dollars); 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents
     Exchange rates:
         Australian dollars ($A) per US$1 - 1.3177 (March 1992), 1.2834 (1991),
         1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752 (1988), 1.4267 (1987)
     Fiscal year:
         1 July - 30 June