_#_Flag: red with the national emblem in the upper hoist-side corner; the emblem includes a yellow five-pointed star above a crossed hoe and hammer (like the hammer and sickle design) in yellow, flanked by two curved green palm branches; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
_*Economy #_Overview: Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing about two-thirds of government revenues and exports. In the early 1980s rapidly rising oil revenues enabled Congo to finance large-scale development projects with growth averaging 5% annually, one of the highest rates in Africa. The world decline in oil prices, however, has forced the government to launch an austerity program to cope with declining receipts and mounting foreign debts.
_#_GDP: $2.26 billion, per capita $1,050; real growth rate 0.6% (1989 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.6% (1989 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: NA%
_#_Budget: revenues $522 million; expenditures $767 million, including capital expenditures of $141 million (1989)
_#_Exports: $751 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities—crude petroleum 72%, lumber, plywood, coffee, cocoa, sugar, diamonds;
partners—US, France, other EC
_#_Imports: $564 million (c.i.f., 1988);