Debt - external: $6.6 billion (2000)

Economic aid - recipient: $588 million (1997)

Currency: boliviano (BOB)

Currency code: BOB

Exchange rates: bolivianos per US dollar - 6.4071 (January 2001), 6.1835 (2000), 5.8124 (1999), 5.5101 (1998), 5.2543 (1997), 5.0746 (1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Bolivia Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 327,600 (1996)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 116,000 (1997)

Telephone system: general assessment: new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly