Nauru
Revenues of this tiny island have traditionally come from
exports of phosphates, now significantly depleted. An Australian
company in 2005 entered into an agreement intended to exploit
remaining supplies. Few other resources exist with most necessities
being imported, mainly from Australia, its former occupier and later
major source of support. The rehabilitation of mined land and the
replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term
problems. In anticipation of the exhaustion of Nauru's phosphate
deposits, substantial amounts of phosphate income were invested in
trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru's
economic future. As a result of heavy spending from the trust funds,
the government faces virtual bankruptcy. To cut costs the government
has frozen wages and reduced overstaffed public service departments.
In 2005, the deterioration in housing, hospitals, and other capital
plant continued, and the cost to Australia of keeping the government
and economy afloat continued to climb. Few comprehensive statistics
on the Nauru economy exist, with estimates of Nauru's GDP varying
widely.
Navassa Island
Subsistence fishing and commercial trawling occur
within refuge waters.
Nepal
Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in
the world with almost one-third of its population living below the
poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing
a livelihood for three-fourths of the population and accounting for
38% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of
agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain.
Security concerns relating to the Maoist conflict have led to a
decrease in tourism, a key source of foreign exchange. Nepal has
considerable scope for exploiting its potential in hydropower and
tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for
foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor,
however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological
backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic location,
its civil strife, and its susceptibility to natural disaster.
Netherlands
The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy, which
depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable
industrial relations, moderate unemployment and inflation, a sizable
current account surplus, and an important role as a European
transportation hub. Industrial activity is predominantly in food
processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery.
A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs no more than 3% of
the labor force but provides large surpluses for the food-processing
industry and for exports. The Netherlands, along with 11 of its EU
partners, began circulating the euro currency on 1 January 2002. The
country continues to be one of the leading European nations for
attracting foreign direct investment and is one of the five largest
investors in the US. The economy experienced a slowdown in 2005 but
in 2006 recovered to the fastest pace in six years on the back of
increased exports and strong investment. The pace of job growth
reached 10-year highs in 2007.
Netherlands Antilles
Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore
finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely
tied to the outside world. Although GDP has declined or grown
slightly in each of the past eight years, the islands enjoy a high
per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure compared with
other countries in the region. Most of the oil Netherlands Antilles
imports for its refineries come from Venezuela. Almost all consumer
and capital goods are imported, the US, Italy, and Mexico being the
major suppliers. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the
development of agriculture. Budgetary problems hamper reform of the
health and pension systems of an aging population. The Netherlands
provides financial aid to support the economy.
New Caledonia
New Caledonia has about 25% of the world's known
nickel resources. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for
cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition
to nickel, substantial financial support from France - equal to more
than 15% of GDP - and tourism are keys to the health of the economy.
Substantial new investment in the nickel industry, combined with the
recovery of global nickel prices, brightens the economic outlook for
the next several years.
New Zealand
Over the past 20 years the government has transformed
New Zealand from an agrarian economy dependent on concessionary
British market access to a more industrialized, free market economy
that can compete globally. This dynamic growth has boosted real
incomes - but left behind many at the bottom of the ladder - and
broadened and deepened the technological capabilities of the
industrial sector. Per capita income has risen for eight consecutive
years and reached $27,300 in 2007 in purchasing power parity terms.
Consumer and government spending have driven growth in recent years,
and exports picked up in 2006 after struggling for several years.
Exports were equal to about 22% of GDP in 2007, down from 33% of GDP
in 2001. Thus far the economy has been resilient, and the Labor
Government promises that expenditures on health, education, and
pensions will increase proportionately to output. Inflationary
pressures have built in recent years and the central bank raised its
key rate 13 times since January 2004 to finish 2007 at 8.25%. A
large balance of payments deficit poses another challenge in
managing the economy.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua has widespread underemployment, one of the
highest degrees of income inequality in the world, and the third
lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere. While the
country has progressed toward macroeconomic stability in the past
few years, annual GDP growth has been far too low to meet the
country's needs, forcing the country to rely on international
economic assistance to meet fiscal and debt financing obligations.
In early 2004, Nicaragua secured some $4.5 billion in foreign debt
reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
initiative, and in October 2007, the IMF approved a new poverty
reduction and growth facility (PRGF) program that should create
fiscal space for social spending and investment. The continuity of a
relationship with the IMF reinforces donor confidence, despite
private sector concerns surrounding ORTEGA, which has dampened
investment. The US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has
been in effect since April 2006 and has expanded export
opportunities for many agricultural and manufactured goods. Energy
shortages fueled by high oil prices, however, are a serious
bottleneck to growth.
Niger
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking
near last on the United Nations Development Fund index of human
development. It is a landlocked, Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy
centers on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's
largest uranium deposits. Drought cycles, desertification, and a
2.9% population growth rate, have undercut the economy. Niger shares
a common currency, the CFA franc, and a common central bank, the
Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), with seven other
members of the West African Monetary Union. In December 2000, Niger
qualified for enhanced debt relief under the International Monetary
Fund program for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and concluded
an agreement with the Fund on a Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility (PRGF). Debt relief provided under the enhanced HIPC
initiative significantly reduces Niger's annual debt service
obligations, freeing funds for expenditures on basic health care,
primary education, HIV/AIDS prevention, rural infrastructure, and
other programs geared at poverty reduction. In December 2005, Niger
received 100% multilateral debt relief from the IMF, which
translates into the forgiveness of approximately US $86 million in
debts to the IMF, excluding the remaining assistance under HIPC.
Nearly half of the government's budget is derived from foreign donor
resources. Future growth may be sustained by exploitation of oil,
gold, coal, and other mineral resources. Uranium prices have
increased sharply in the last few years. A drought and locust
infestation in 2005 led to food shortages for as many as 2.5 million
Nigeriens.
Nigeria
Oil-rich Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability,
corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic
management, is undertaking some reforms under a new reform-minded
administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify
the economy away from its overdependence on the capital-intensive
oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange
earnings, and about 80% of budgetary revenues. The largely
subsistence agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid
population growth - Nigeria is Africa's most populous country - and
the country, once a large net exporter of food, now must import
food. Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in August
2000, Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal from the Paris Club
and a $1 billion credit from the IMF, both contingent on economic
reforms. Nigeria pulled out of its IMF program in April 2002, after
failing to meet spending and exchange rate targets, making it
ineligible for additional debt forgiveness from the Paris Club. In
the last year the government has begun showing the political will to
implement the market-oriented reforms urged by the IMF, such as to
modernize the banking system, to curb inflation by blocking
excessive wage demands, and to resolve regional disputes over the
distribution of earnings from the oil industry. In 2003, the
government began deregulating fuel prices, announced the
privatization of the country's four oil refineries, and instituted
the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy, a
domestically designed and run program modeled on the IMF's Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility for fiscal and monetary management. In
November 2005, Abuja won Paris Club approval for a debt-relief deal
that eliminated $18 billion of debt in exchange for $12 billion in
payments - a total package worth $30 billion of Nigeria's total $37
billion external debt. The deal requires Nigeria to be subject to
stringent IMF reviews. GDP rose strongly in 2007, based largely on
increased oil exports and high global crude prices. Newly-elected
President YAR'ADUA has pledged to continue the economic reforms of
his predecessor and the proposed budget for 2008 reflects the
administrations emphasis on infrastructure improvements.
Infrastructure is the main impediment to growth. The government is
working toward developing stronger public-private partnerships for
electricity and roads.