Debt—external: $16.8 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid—recipient: ODA, $1 billion (1996 est.)
Currency: 1 Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: CFA francs (CFAF) per US$1—560.01 (January 1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995), 555.20 (1994)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 200,000 (1988 est.)
Telephone system: well-developed by African standards but operating well below capacity domestic: open-wire lines and microwave radio relay international: satellite earth stations—2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); 2 coaxial submarine cables
Radio broadcast stations: AM 71, FM 4, shortwave 13
Radios: NA