Bolivia
| Country summary | |
|---|---|
|
Capital |
La Paz (administrative capital) |
|
Borders |
Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km |
|
Government type |
republic; note - the new constitution defines Bolivia as a "Social Unitarian State" |
|
Population |
9,775,246 (July 2010 est.)[1] |
|
Population growth % |
1.772 (2010 est.)[1] |
|
Life expectancy |
66.89 years[1] |
|
Unemployment |
8.5% (2009 est.)[1] |
|
146[2] | |
|
120[3] | |
|
161[4] | |
Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and countercoups. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production. In December 2005, Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo MORALES president - by the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 - after he ran on a promise to change the country's traditional political class and empower the nation's poor, indigenous majority. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands. In December 2009, President MORALES easily won reelection, and his party took control of the legislative branch of the government, which will allow him to continue his process of change.[1]
Economical characteristics
- Currency: Boliviano (ISO code: BOB)
- Central bank discount rate: 13% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Commercial banks lending rate: 13.87% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Stock of money (M1): $3.998 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
- Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $6.339 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
Notable events:
- Banking crisis: 1987-1988, 1994, 1999[5]
- Hyperinflation: 1984-1985
- Years in inflation: 14.6% (share of years 1825-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
- Public default: 1875-1879, 1931-1948, 1980-1984, 1986-1993, 1989-1997 (external), 1927, 1982-1985 (domestic)[6]
Statistics
| Statistic / Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (million USD)[7] | 8 285 | 8 398 | 8 142 | 7 905 | 8 082 | 8 773 | 9 549 | 11 452 | 13 120 | 16 674 |
| Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] | ||||||||||
| Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] | 18.377 | 18.796 | 20.242 | 22.972 | 23.204 | 23.266 | ||||
| Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] | 28.784 | 28.208 | 27.211 | 25.983 | 23.938 | 21.811 | ||||
| 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.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Bolivia", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-28.
- ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Bolivia", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-28.
- ↑ Transparency International. "Bolivia", 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 2010-09-28.
- ↑ Doing Business. "Bolivia", 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 2010-09-28.
- ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 352-353. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
- ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 24. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
- ↑ World Bank. "Bolivia: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.
- ↑ World Bank. "Bolivia: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.
- ↑ World Bank. "Bolivia: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.
- ↑ World Bank. "Bolivia: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.
Links
- Bolivia on Wikipedia
- Central bank of Bolivia
- Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
- Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
- BBC country profile
- The impact of short-term interest rates on risk-taking: hard evidence by Vasso P. Ioannidou, Steven Ongena and Jose Luis Peydro, October 2007
