Flag: two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white with a red five-pointed star within a red crescent; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state religion)
@Algeria:Economy
Overview: The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 57% of government revenues, 25% of GDP, and almost all export earnings; Algeria has the fifth largest reserves of natural gas in the world and ranks fourteenth for oil. Algiers' efforts to reform one of the most centrally planned economies in the Arab world began after the 1986 collapse of world oil prices plunged the country into a severe recession. In 1989, the government launched a comprehensive, IMF-supported program to achieve macroeconomic stabilization and to introduce market mechanisms into the economy. Despite substantial progress toward macroeconomic adjustment, in 1992 the reform drive stalled as Algiers became embroiled in political turmoil. In September 1993, a new government was formed, and one priority was the resumption and acceleration of the structural adjustment process. Buffeted by the slump in world oil prices and burdened with a heavy foreign debt, Algiers concluded a one-year standby arrangement with the IMF in April 1994.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $97.1 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate: 0.2% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $3,480 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 30% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 30% (1994 est.)
Budget: revenues: $14.3 billion expenditures: $17.9 billion (1995 est.)
Exports: $9.1 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: petroleum and natural gas 97%
partners: Italy 21%, France 16%, US 14%, Germany 13%, Spain 9%