Patriots: I got these in from The Word Fact Book and I thought it might be of interest to talk about. Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (1998 est). Labor force: NA Labor force-by occupation: agriculture 75%, industry, commerce, and services 19%, government 6% Unemployment rate: NA% Budget: revenues: $88.6 million expenditures: $98.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY96/97 est.) Industries: processing peanuts, fish, and hides; tourism; beverages; agricultural machinery assembly, woodworking, metalworking; clothing Industrial production growth rate: NA% Electricity-production: 70 million kWh (1996) Electricity-production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1996) Electricity-consumption: 70 million kWh (1996) Electricity-exports: 0 kWh (1996) Electricity-imports: 0 kWh (1996) Agriculture-products: peanuts, millet, sorghum, rice, corn, cassava (tapioca), palm kernels; cattle, sheep, goats; forest and fishery resources not fully exploited Exports: $120 million (f.o.b., 1997) Exports-commodities: peanuts and peanut products, fish, cotton lint, palm kernels Exports-partners: Belgium, Japan, Senegal, Hong Kong, France, Switzerland, UK, US, Indonesia (1997) Imports: $207 million (f.o.b., 1997) Imports-commodities: foodstuffs, manufactures, raw materials, fuel, machinery and transport equipment Imports-partners: Cote d'Ivoire, Hong Kong, UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Belgium (1997) Debt-external: $426 million (1995 est.) Economic aid-recipient: $45.4 million (1995) Currency: 1 dalasi (D) = 100 butut Exchange rates: dalasi (D) per US$1-10.947 (December 1998), 10.643 (1998), 10.200 (1997), 9.789 (1996), 9.546 (1995), 9.576 (1994) Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June Communications [Top of Page] Telephones: 11,000 (1991 est.) Telephone system: domestic: adequate network of microwave radio relay and open wire international: microwave radio relay links to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau; satellite earth station-1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 5, short-wave 0 Radios: 180,000 (1993 est.) Television broadcast stations: 1 (government owned) (1997) Televisions: NA Transportation [Top of Page] Railways: 0 km Highways: total: 2,700 km paved: 956 km unpaved: 1,744 km (1996 est.) With total government expenditure of slightly less than $100 million from estimated revenue of about $89 million, the dictator is depleting our reserves. According to these estimates the government at this period incurred a budget deficit of $11 million. How can our country increase exports? According to these estimates, we had $207 million in exports while our imports stayed at $120 million. Our trade deficit of $87 million is slightly less than our entire revenue. Again this shows lack of proper economic planning and reinforcement. External debt of almost $450 million is disturbing. Where is this lunatic dictator taking us to? Can the dictatorship give us the present external debt incurred? My friends this is amazing. We, who are in the opposition must now stay focus on issues and refrain from personal attacks. If we believe that dictator yahya jamus is the worst thing that ever happened to The Gambia, then we have no business in attacking each other for simplistic error in judgment. Comrade, M.L. Jassey-Conteh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------