Liberia/

Liberia is a low income country heavily reliant on foreign assistance for revenue. Civil war and government mismanagement destroyed much of Liberia’s economy, especially the infrastructure in and around the capital, Monrovia. Many businesses fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them, but with the conclusion of fighting and the installation of a democratically-elected government in 2006, several have returned. Liberia has the distinction of having the highest ratio of direct foreign investment to GDP in the world. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a producer and exporter of basic products, primarily raw timber and rubber and is reviving those sectors. Local manufacturing, mainly foreign owned, had been small in scope. President JOHNSON SIRLEAF, a Harvard-trained banker and administrator, has taken steps to reduce corruption, build support from international donors, and encourage private investment. Embargos on timber and diamond exports have been lifted, opening new sources of revenue for the government and Liberia shipped its first major timber exports to Europe in 2010. The country reached its Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative completion point in 2010 and nearly $5 billion of international debt was permanently eliminated. This new status will enable Liberia to estabilish a sovereign credit rating and issue bonds. Liberia’s Paris Club creditors agreed to cancel Liberia’s debt as well. Rebuilding infrastructure and raising incomes will depend on generous financial and technical assistance from donor countries and foreign investment in key sectors, such as infrastructure and power generation.

$1.76 billion (2010 est.)

$1.66 billion (2009 est.)

$1.587 billion (2008 est.)

$977 million (2010 est.)

6% (2010 est.)

4.6% (2009 est.)

8.6% (2008 est.)

$500 (2010 est.)

$500 (2009 est.)

$500 (2008 est.)

1.372 million (2007)

85% (2003 est.)

80% (2000 est.)

11.2% (2007 est.)

14.4% (31 December 2008)

15.05% (31 December 2007)

$206.9 million (31 December 2008)

$145.6 million (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2009)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$1.202 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.157 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA

rubber, coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, sugarcane, bananas; sheep, goats; timber

rubber processing, palm oil processing, timber, diamonds

NA%

350 million kWh (2007 est.)

325.5 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

4,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

23 bbl/day (2007 est.)

4,263 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

-$224 million (2007)

$1.197 billion (2006)

rubber, timber, iron, diamonds, cocoa, coffee

Germany 27.92%, Poland 17.12%, South Africa 15.83%, India 10.48%, Greece 7.09%, US 6.23%, Norway 5.24% (2009)

$7.143 billion (2006)

fuels, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods; foodstuffs

South Korea 28.29%, Singapore 19.06%, Japan 17.06%, China 14.58%, Taiwan 4.02% (2009)

$3.2 billion (2005 est.)

$NA

$NA

Liberian dollars (LRD) per US dollar - NA (2007), 59.43 (2006), 53.098 (2005), 54.906 (2004), 59.379 (2003)