Central African Republic - The economy of the Central African Republic (Vol. 1 of 2) : Recent evolution and perspectives

R ES TR I CTED Mm we Cw eport Nlo. A Y'vr-1 6d This report was prepared for use within the Bank and its affiliated organizations. They do not accept responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The report may not be published nor may it be quoted as representing their views. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION -. RF-WRIi& 11 j THE ECONOMY OX No, 2 OF THE o > 6 ,,. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC JIn tWU vo'lumie s VOLUME I RECENT EVOLUTION AND PROSPECTS Mar 22, 1Q70 WT estern Afrrica Depart.Snent  0 lg r-al Co C) A r-I =' Wd - C) i C) N>- \C) C) ' N- ^ ^ C) CM l C) U c) C) C)Q t'i C) P4 f r0 ri rt ri C.) I~~ri i r-4 riI  This report was prepared after a mission to the Central African Republic in November 1969. The mission consisted of Messrs. Byl and Fall of the Bank and Zaanouni of FAO. This main report (Vol. I), is complemented by an agricultural sector study (Vol. II).   Commodity concentration of exports % of Exports of major products to countries outside the Central 4fri;n Customs and Economic Union (UDEAG) (in percent) !Xveragge 1966 1967 1968 1966/68 Diamonds 53.5 h 6.7 r3.1 '1l.1 Cotton lh.7 22.v.8 23Th .0.3 Coffee 23.7 20.0 12.,' 18.6h 91.9 89.5 88.7 90.0 External Public Debt (in millions of U;) outstanding as of December 31, 1968 Disbursed only 20.6 Including undisbursed 21.0 Wlith additions until June 30, 1969? 30.8 Public Debt Service on outstanding debt 1969 1970 1971 1972 as of June 30 1969 including undisbursed portion 2.0 2.2 2'.Q 7 Debt Service Ratio (as .C of 1968 exports of goods and services). 4.8 '.3 7.0 Bank Group Operations IDA Credit No. 146 CA for road construction $4.2 million IPY 1969 DItF Position ot I n+.$9 5 Tni l i nn Draw-ing: None PnIiMtnAl Sta+.uss Memehr of thei Ce.ntral African (Cistnms and Vtn,rwi-h' TTUnien (IMPA01') Central Bank of Equatorial Africai States &c tameroon Organization of African Unity (OAU) Conmn o )o4.!+n Ofb A-ric-n 'and Mol oag-asy Z+-,+e and Mauritius (OCANN) Associated with the: European Economic Community (EEC).  BAS IA T AT'A 'A P Tn ulon (est.. ) i96 1,530,000 ,ate oDf crowth - Dew;.,itv 2.5 per sq. km. IC;conl atteriance in nercent of' the relevant age grolup PriLmary 58 r ,econdary 1 g ;'ros3 Domestic Product 1967 - i,'AF' 46.6 billion at c:irrent markat prices Per capita 1967 3,-IAF 31,300 or $127 at the 1967 exchange rate. Growth rate 19614-67 h. :{eal grow-th rate 0 to 0.2-. Mjoney and llankinf: The CAlS uses the Communaut6 Financigre Africaine franc (CFAF). (in billions of CFAF) June (end of year) 1966 1967 1968 1969 Money Supply 5.37 5.87 7.17 7.15 Domes,tic Credit 575 7.12 8.82 9.h7 Foreign Assets (net) 1.13 0.34 0.51 -0.18 (11 mos.) budget Public Finances 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 Total receipts 8.1 8.2 9.2 7.9 11.3 Total exoenditures -7.9 -9.2 -10.2 -9.2 12.1 Overall Surplus or D)eficit +0.1 -1.0 -1.0 -1.2 -0.8 Current Surplus or Teficit +0.7 -0.T -0.7 -0.9 - Capital !jcpenditures -0.6 -0.< -0.3 -0.3 -0.8 Investments outside the budget n.a. 1.5 2.5 n.a. n.a Trade arid Payments 1966 1967 1968 1969 *.xports 9.1 8.9 10.5 n.a. lmports 10.4 12.6 11.8 n.a. Trade balance -1.3 -3.7 -1.3 n.a. .'hanrge in foreign assets, (net) -0.8 -o.8 +0.2 -0.7 (June) Y'oreLgn aid disbursemeTnts 2.5 2.1 1.7 n.a. A 1965 population survey indicated that the population at that moment m ght. be as high as 2.1 mIY:o-,n (nar. 2).  THE ECONORY OF THE CE1NTAL A