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Economy - overview:
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Kenya, the regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, is hampered by corruption and reliance upon several primary goods whose prices remain low. Following strong economic growth in 1995 and 1996, Kenya's economy has stagnated, with GDP growth failing to keep up with the rate of population growth. In 1997, the IMF suspended Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program due to the government's failure to maintain reforms and curb corruption. A severe drought from 1999 to 2000 compounded Kenya's problems, causing water and energy rationing and reducing agricultural output. As a result, GDP contracted by 0.3% in 2000. The IMF, which had resumed loans in 2000 to help Kenya through the drought, again halted lending in 2001 when the government failed to institute several anticorruption measures. Despite the return of strong rains in 2001, weak commodity prices, endemic corruption, and low investment limited Kenya's economic growth to 1%. Growth fell below 1% in 2002 because of erratic rains, low investor confidence, meager donor support, and political infighting up to the elections. In the key December 27, 2002 elections, Daniel Arap MOI's 24-year-old reign ended, and a new opposition government took on the formidable economic problems facing the nation. Substantial donor support and rooting out corruption are essential to making Kenya realize its substantial economic potential.
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity - $32.89 billion (2002 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate:
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1.1% (2002 est.)
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2002 est.)
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 24%
industry: 13%
services: 63% (2001 est.)
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Population below poverty line:
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50% (2000 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 37.2% (2000)
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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44.9 (1997)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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1.9% (2002 est.)
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Labor force:
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10 million (2001 est.)
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 75% 75%-80%
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Unemployment rate:
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40% (2001 est.)
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Budget:
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revenues: $2.91 billion
expenditures: $2.97 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
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Industries:
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small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products processing; oil refining, cement; tourism
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Industrial production growth rate:
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0.9% (2002 est.)
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Electricity - production:
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4.033 billion kWh (2001)
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 71%
hydro: 17.7%
other: 11.3% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
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Electricity - consumption:
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3.981 billion kWh (2001)
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Electricity - exports:
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0 kWh (2001)
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Electricity - imports:
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230 million kWh (2001)
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Oil - production:
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0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
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Oil - consumption:
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57,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
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Oil - exports:
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NA (2001)
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Oil - imports:
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NA (2001)
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Agriculture - products:
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tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs
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Exports:
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$2.1 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
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Exports - commodities:
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tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement
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Exports - partners:
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Uganda 18.3%, UK 12.9%, US 8%, Netherlands 7.6%, Pakistan 4.9%, Tanzania 4.4%, Egypt 4.1% (2002)
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Imports:
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$3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
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Imports - commodities:
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machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics
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Imports - partners:
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UAE 12%, Saudi Arabia 8.7%, US 8.1%, UK 7.1%, South Africa 7.1%, France 5.8%, China 5.5%, Japan 5%, India 4.8% (2002)
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Debt - external:
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$5.7 billion (2002 est.)
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$457 million (1997)
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Currency:
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Kenyan shilling (KES)
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Currency code:
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KES
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Exchange rates:
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Kenyan shillings per US dollar - 78.75 (2002), 78.56 (2001), 76.18 (2000), 70.33 (1999), 60.37 (1998)
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Fiscal year:
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1 July - 30 June
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