Guinea-Bissau

From Mises Wiki, the global repository of classical-liberal thought
Jump to: navigation, search
Country summary

Capital

Bissau

Borders

Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km

Government type

republic

Population

1,533,964 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

2.019% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

47.9 years[1]

Unemployment

NA% est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

167[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

162[3]

Doing Business ranking

181[4]


Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau (Guiné-Bissau) has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system, VIEIRA's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003, after only three years in office, YALA was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman Henrique ROSA was sworn in as interim president. In 2005, former President VIEIRA was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation; he was assassinated in March 2009. Malam Bacai SANHA was elected in an emergency election held in June 2009.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: West African CFA franc (ISO code: XOF)
  • Central bank discount rate: 4.75% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $171.2 million (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $17.99 million (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[6] 224 215 199 204 236 285 302 317 382 430
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[7]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[8]
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[9]
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Guinea-Bissau", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Guinea-Bissau", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  3. Transparency International. "Guinea-Bissau", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  4. Doing Business. "Guinea-Bissau", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 366. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. World Bank. "Guinea-Bissau: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  7. World Bank. "Guinea-Bissau: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  8. World Bank. "Guinea-Bissau: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  9. World Bank. "Guinea-Bissau: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.

Links