Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world since large-scale commercial exploitation of oil began in the 1990s. It remains one of Africa’s fastest growing economies and also one of the main destinations of foreign investment. However, the country experienced an economic slowdown in 2009, posting a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 1.9%, compared with 11.3% in 2008. ?e decline was due to a fall in oil prices and oil production in the wake of the global recession. ?is also caused the share of the hydrocarbons sector to fall from 77% of GDP in 2008 to around 61% in 2009, although it remains the main sector of the economy. After a recession in 2010, the economy is expected to recover gradually and return to positive growth of 2.7% in 2011. ?e fall in oil revenues has had a major adverse effect on the government budget with the budget surplus falling by 16 percentage points to 6.9% of GDP in 2009. It is projected to rise to 14.4% of GDP in 2010 and further to 17.7% in 2011. In contrast, the current account surplus rose to 8.3% of GDP in 2009, compared with 3.7% in 2008. It is projected to rise to 17.3% in 2010 and further to 19.7% in 2011. Inflation was 5.5% in 2009 and is forecast to fall to 2.4% in 2010. Equatorial Guinea faces no debt problems thanks to its large budget surpluses and external reserves. External debt at the end 2009 was only 1% of GDP and is forecast to fall to 0.7% in 2011.