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Gabon and its trends in Economic Growth:

Gabon, situated on the west shoreline of Africa, is one of the locale's more steady nations.
Gabon is named a Middle Income Country (MIC) with per capita pay of around USD 7 370.
Yet the neediness level is practically identical to that of low-pay nations. In 2005, the
Gabonese Poverty evaluation and Monitoring Survey (EGEP) demonstrated that destitution
influences up to 33% of the populace. This circumstance, exacerbated by high
unemployment, especially among the adolescent, highlighted the requirement for strategies
and projects that advance the production of feasible employments and better riches
dissemination. The past procedure 2006-2010 had two columns: "Upgraded Governance"
and "Base Improvement", both went for basic changes and building fundamental base to
bolster the advancement of distinct options for the oil part. In any case, the execution of this
technique was influenced by a mix of a few variables, remarkably, political instabilities going
before President Omar Bongo Ondimba's passing; nonattendance of an organized
consultative instrument between the Government and givers; and shortcomings in get ready
operations in the loaning program. Gabon isone of the poorest nation on the planet in the
2015 rankings taking into account the GDP (PPP) of a nation, which thinks about summed up
contrasts in typical cost for basic items and guidelines.

Gabon's economy is dominated by oil. Oil revenues comprise roughly 46% of the
government's budget, 43% of gross domestic product (GDP), and 81% of exports. Oil
production is now declining rapidly from its high point of 370,000 barrels per day in 1997.
Some estimates suggest that Gabonese oil will be expended by 2025. In spite of the
decreasing oil revenues, planning is only now beginning for an after-oil scenario..

Gabonese public expenditures from the years of significant oil revenues were not spent
efficiently. Overspending on the Trans-Gabon Railway, the oil price shock of 1986, the CFA
franc devaluation of 1994, and low oil prices in the late 1990s caused serious debt problems
that still plague the country.Gabon earned a poor reputation with the Paris Club and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the management of its debt and revenues.
Successive IMF missions have criticized the government for overspending on off-budget
items (in good years and bad), over-borrowing from the Central Bank, and slipping on the
schedule for privatization and administrative reform. However, in September 2005, Gabon
successfully concluded a 15-month Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF. Another 3-year
Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF was approved in May 2007. Because of the financial
crisis and social developments surrounding the death of President Omar Bongo and the
elections, Gabon was unable to meet its economic goals under the Stand-By Arrangement in
2009.

The economy is highly dependent on extraction of abundant primary materials. Prior to the
discovery of oil, Logging was the pillar of the Gabonese economy. Today, logging and
manganese mining are the other major income generators. Recent explorations point to the
presence of the world's largest unexploited iron ore deposit. For many living in the
countryside without access to employment in extractive industries, remittances from family
members in urban areas or subsistence activities provide income.

Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most nations of sub-Saharan Africa, its
reliance on resource extraction industry releasing much of the population from extreme
poverty.

Real GDP growth

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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2.5% 1.4% -0.8% -1.9% 6.3% 1.7% -2.3% 6.3%

2011 2012 2013 2014* 2015*
6.9% 5.5% 5.6% 5.1% 5.4%

*Estimate

GDP per capita - current prices

US$ 13,508 (2015 estimate)

GDP per capita - PPP

22,879 International Dollars (2015 estimate)

GDP (PPP) - share of world total

1980 1990 2000 2010 2015*

0.06% 0.05% 0.04% 0.03% 0.03%

*Estimate

Source

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 3.6%

industry: 63.9%

services: 32.5% (2013 estimate)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) :N/A

Inflation

2011 2012 2013 2014* 2015*

1.3% 2.7% 0.5% 4.7% 2.5%

*Estimate

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014* 2015*

20.2% 17.3% 18.5% 18.8% 18.5% 18.9%

*Estimate

Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014* 2015*

2.7% 2.4% 1.5% 1.6% 5.9% -2.0%

*Estimate
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Gabon GDP Annual Growth Rate 1994-2016

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Gabon expanded 5.10 percent in 2014 from the
previous year. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Gabon averaged 2.39 percent from 1994 until
2014, reaching an all time high of 5.90 percent in 2005 and a record low of -11.30 percent in
1999. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Gabon is reported by the Direction Statistics of Gabon.

Economic Situation:

The economy recorded an average growth of 3% between 2006 and 2008, largely sustained
by the performance of the oil sector, which is barely integrated into other sectors of the
economy. Growth faltered in 2009, resulting in a 1.4% drop of GDP under the combined
effects of the international financial crisis that led to a fall in demand/price of oil and timber
(representing 90% of total exports), and the uncertainties linked to a historic political
transition. The recovery observed in 2010, with a growth rate estimated at 5.5%, stems from
oil activity, sustained by the average price of Gabonese crude, up by 13.5%. In the medium
term, this favourable trend should be maintained with growth projections of about 4.2% and
4.9% in 2011 and 20121, respectively. Governments objective is to achieve double-digit
growth from 2016 by boosting the key sectors of the economy, notably the mining,
hydrocarbon (non-oil) and forestry sectors.

Value of Currency:

Currency: 1 franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (June 2015)

Currency Unit = CFA Franc (XAF)

UA 1 = CFAF 729.949
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USD 1 = CFAF 445.999

EUR 1 = CFAF 655.957

Exchange rates: francs (CFAF) per US$1 507.71 (2010), 472.19 (2009), 447.81 (2008),
481.83 (2007), 522.89 (2006), 647.25 (January 2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67
(1997), 511.55 (1996), 499.15 (1995)
Since 1 January 1999, the CFAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per
euro

Currency Regime:

Definition:

A past filled with coin administrations (or conversion scale administrations) is, by need, one
of global exchange and speculation and the endeavors to make them effective. Sovereign
obligation levels and total national output (GDP) figure vitally also in the level of a cash's
unpredictability. A conversion standard is essentially the cost of one cash up against another.
At the point when gatherings of countries in a typical region conduct business with various
monetary standards, their vacillation could either block or advance exchange, contingent
upon either gathering's viewpoint.

Cash qualities are an element of a country's economy, financial and monetary arrangement,
governmental issues and the perspective of brokers who purchase and offer it in view of
their supposition of occasions that could influence its worth. At the danger of distortion, the
purpose of a cash system is to advance the stream of exchange and speculation with
negligible rubbing or, contingent on the nation, the accomplishment of more prominent
financial and money related control (expanded fiscal dependability, full work and reduced
swapping scale unpredictability) than would some way or another happen.

Whenever two or more nations utilize the same cash under control of a typical financial
power or tie their coinage's trade rates by different means, they have gone into a money
administration. The range of game plans runs pretty much from a settled to an adaptable
administration. The present-day money grapples might be the U.S. dollar, the euro or a
bushel of monetary standards. There additionally might be no stay by any means.

How Government Intervene:

Investigators concur that "getting the conversion scale right" is fundamental for financial
strength and development in creating nations. In the course of recent decades, numerous
creating nations have moved far from altered trade rates (that is, those that peg the local
cash to one or more remote monetary standards) and moved toward more adaptable trade
rates (those that decide the outer estimation of a coin pretty much by the business sector
supply and interest for it). Amid a time of fast financial development, driven by the twin
strengths of globalization and liberalization of business sectors and exchange, this
movement appears to have served various nations well. Be that as it may, as the coin
market turmoil, globalization can intensify the expenses of improper strategies. Besides, the
difficulties confronting nations might change after some time, recommending a need to
adjust conversion scale strategy to evolving circumstances. The early writing on the decision
of conversion scale administration took the perspective that the littler and then some "open"
an economy (that is, the more reliant on fares and imports), the better it is served by a
settled swapping scale. A later way to deal with the decision of conversion scale
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administration takes a gander at the impacts of different arbitrary aggravations on the

residential economy. In this system the best administration is the one that balances out
macroeconomic execution, that is, minimizes changes in yield, utilization, the residential
value level, or some other macroeconomic variable. The positioning of settled and adaptable
swapping scale administrations relies on upon the nature and wellspring of the stuns to the
economy, policymakers' inclinations (that is, the sort of costs they wish to minimize), and
the basic attributes of the economy.

In an augmentation of this methodology, financial experts have seen the policymaker's

choice not just as a decision between a simply settled and an absolutely drifting swapping
scale yet as a scope of decisions with differing degrees of adaptability. When all is said in
done, an altered conversion scale (or a more prominent level of fixity) is ideal if the
aggravations impinging on the economy are transcendently fiscal such as changes in the
interest for moneyand in this way influence the general level of costs. An adaptable rate (or
a more prominent level of adaptability) is ideal if aggravations are dominatingly realsuch as
changes in tastes or innovation that influence the relative costs of residential goodsor start
abroad.

The government uses the following tools to intervene in an economy:

Dollarization: One nation utilizes another country's coin as a medium of trade, acquiring the
believability of that nation's cash, yet not its financial soundness. A few cases are Panama,
El Salvador and Timor Leste. This methodology can force financial control.

Money Union: A few nations share a typical money. Similarly as with dollarization, such an
administration neglects to force financial soundness as a few countries' accounts are more
degenerate than different countries. Cases are the eurozone (current) and Latin and
Scandinavian financial unions (dead)

Currency Board: An institutional game plan to issue a neighborhood cash upheld by an

outside one. Hong Kong is a prime case. The Hong Kong Money related Power (HKMA) holds
dollar stores to cover Hong Kong dollar bank stores and cash available for use. This forces
monetary control, yet the HKMA may not go about as a moneylender of final resort, not at all
like a national bank.

Fixed Parity: The conversion standard is pegged to either a solitary money or a coin bushel
with a +/ - one percent band of allowed change. There is no administrative duty to equality
and there is an optional remote trade hold target. Illustrations are Argentina, Venezuela and
Russia.

Target Zone: Much the same as the settled equality game plan, however with to some
degree more extensive groups (+/ - two percent), managing the fiscal power some more
prominent tact. Illustrations here incorporate the Slovak Republic and Syria.

Active & Passive Crawling Peg: Latin America in the 1980s was a prime sample. Trade rates
would be conformed to keep pace with swelling rates and keep a keep running on U.S. dollar
holds (detached creep). A dynamic creep involved declaring the swapping scale ahead of
time and actualizing changes in ventures, with an end goal to control swelling desires.
Different cases incorporate China and Iran.

Fixed Parity with Crawling Band: A settled equality game plan with more noteworthy
adaptability to permit exit from altered equality or manage the cost of the financial power
more prominent scope in approach execution. Costa Rica.
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Managed Float (or Dirty Float): A country takes after an arrangement of free mediation to
accomplish full livelihood or value strength with an understood welcome to different nations
with which it conducts business to react in kind. Cases are Cambodia or Ukraine (tied down
to the USD) or Colombia and Singapore (moored or not to a cash bushel.)

Independent Float (or Floating Exchange): Trade rates are liable to market powers. The
financial power might mediate to accomplish or keep up value dependability. Cases are the
U.S., Australia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Has the government intervene in the past years? No.

Foreign Currency Regulations:

The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Communaut Economique et

Montaire de l'Afrique Centrale - CEMAC) was established in 1994 and is made out of six
Central African States Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic,
Chad, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The reason for the CEMAC is to make a typical business
sector amongst its part states through the execution of a business, custom and money
related orchestrated regulation structure. On 29 April 2000, the clerical council of the CEMAC
received regulation n02/00/CEMAC/UMAC/CM on outside trade (the Exchange Regulation)
went for giving a base structure regulation to part states, with every state having the
likelihood of locally adjusting the Exchange Regulation. This instructions gives a blueprint of
the principle elements of the Exchange Regulation. The nearby enactment of every part
state ought to additionally be considered, particularly in admiration of the different limits set
by the content.

The legitimate cash inside of the CEMAC range is the CFA Franc (FCFA), which is pegged to
the Euro at 0.001524 Euros to 1 FCFA. Its conversion scale with different monetary forms
depends on an altered swapping scale between those coinage and the Euro on outside trade
markets.

In its connection with non-CEMAC part expresses, the Exchange Regulation recognizes "Zone
Franc" states i.e. individuals from the CEMAC, individuals from the West African Economic
and Monetary (Union Economique et Montaire des Etats d'Afrique de l'Ouest - UEMOA) and
France including its abroad offices and regions (Zone Franc) from one perspective, and
different nations then again.

The Exchange Regulation additionally recognizes "occupants", being substances whose chief
spot of business (financial hobby) is situated inside of the CEMAC (Residents), and
"nonnatives", i.e. all substances in nations which are not CEMAC part states (Non-Residents).
However Zone Franc inhabitants are absorbed to Residents, with the exception of exchanges
identified with gold, certain credits, direct speculations and exchanges identified with
outside securities (valeurs mobilires), and in addition the fare and repatriation of their
income.

The Exchange Regulation does not have any significant bearing to exchanges between
CEMAC part states and states inside of the Zone Franc, aside from the procurements
identified with gold, certain advances, direct speculations and exchanges identified with
outside securities (valeurs mobilires). Every single other installment to Zone Franc states
are free however might be liable to assertions for factual purposes if their sum surpasses
1,000,000 FCFA.

Installments identified with "current" universal exchanges as characterized by the Articles of

Agreement embraced by the International Monetary Fund (the IMF Articles) are unlimited. As
per the IMF Articles, installments for current exchanges are installments which are not made
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with the end goal of exchanging capital. They incorporate installments due regarding outside
exchange and other current exchanges including administrations, typical fleeting managing
an account and credit offices, and installments due as enthusiasm on advances and as net
pay from different speculations. In actuality, exchanges "on capital", quite certain credits,
direct speculation and exchanges including outside securities, are liable to managerial
observation.

Exchanges of assets from the CEMAC are liable to authoritative expenses charged by nearby
banks. Such charges are controlled by every bank except must not surpass 0.25% of the
assets exchanged inside of the CEMAC and 0.50% of assets exchanged outside of the
CEMAC. Abroad store exchanges surpassing 5,000,000 FCFA (USD 10,000) must be helped
out through approved delegates, for occasion affirmed nearby banks (the Authorized
Intermediaries).

Money import or fare of FCFA is not permitted aside from up to 100,000 FCFA for Resident
explorers' accommodation. Additionally import of outside monetary forms is free, be that as
it may, when helped out through Authorized Intermediaries, such import is liable to a stamp
charge of 0.01% of their face esteem.

Occupants, not at all like Non-Residents, are not permitted to hold an outside money
account in the CEMAC region. However the clergyman responsible for money of the
applicable nation and the Bank of Central African Sates (the BEAC) might approve Residents
to hold a remote coin account, gave that regardless such record may not be credited with
FCFA or get exchanges from a FCFA account.

There are no procurements in the Exchange Regulation keeping Residents from holding
seaward records, yet this has however demonstrated troublesome in specific purviews.

All installments for imports and administrations are liable to assertion and must be confirm
by a master forma receipt or some other applicable supporting documentation to be given to
the Authorized Intermediary. What's more, when such exchange surpasses 5,000,000 FCFA,
they should be domiciled with an Authorized Intermediary. Exchanges which surpass
100,000,000 FCFA (USD 200,000) are likewise subject to an upgraded observing by the
Authorized Intermediary.

Any advances allowed to a Non-Resident by a Resident, or the other way around, must be
pronounced 30 days before their execution to the able power of the nearby service of money
and the BEAC.

Repayments of such advances must be proclaimed inside of 30 days of their execution to the
significant bureau of the nearby service accountable for fund and the BEAC as set out above.

Accordingly any credit a branch gets from an outside bank or substance and its related
repayment must be pronounced to the capable power of the nearby service of money and
the BEAC, regardless of the fact that the obtained sums are held in a seaward record.

Foreign Direct Investment and Stock Market:

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FDI into Gabon has encountered a moderate development. In the wake of having backed off
under the impacts of the unfavorable universal monetary atmosphere, FDI has begun to
recuperate. Constrained business sector potential, administration, non-productive ventures,
an incompetent and costly workforce, and poor base all constitute obstructions to FDI flood.
Gabon's points of interest are access to crude materials, political solidness and a moderately
high obtaining power when contrasted with other Sub-Saharan African nations.

The oil part is the principle destination of FDI in the nation, with Total Gabon and Shell and
Perenco being the biggest hydrocarbon makers furthermore the fundamental financial
specialists. The mining division additionally pulls in FDI. In the wake of losing a few spots in
the World Bank's 2015 Doing Business report, Gabon now positions 144th out of 189 nations.

France has a transcendent spot in the supply of FDI in Gabon since it tallies several branches
from French organizations in different divisions: oil abuse, mining, timber, agribusiness,
building and structural designing works, budgetary administrations, water and power
concessions, and so on.
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Balance of Trade:

Gabon recorded a trade surplus of 3711.95 FCFA Million in 2013. Balance of Trade in Gabon
averaged 2030.54 FCFA Million from 1998 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 3964.22
FCFA Million in 2011 and a record low of 439.20 FCFA Million in 1998. Balance of Trade in
Gabon is reported by the Direction Gnrale des Statistiques du Gabon.
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Trade by Volume:

Gabon is an upper middle-income economy comes under the Sub Saharan African region as
to the classification made by the World Bank on the basis of income and region for year
2006.

Currency traded In different countries:

The country has experienced both trade surplus as well as balance of payment surplus over
years. Major exportable items of the country are timber, manganese, uranium, and oil. It
exports partners are United States, Japan, and China. Important importable commodities in
the country are chemicals, foodstuffs, petroleum products and capital goods. Its imports
partners are United States, France, and Netherlands. So most significant amount of currency
has been traded with United States , France and Netherlands.

Gabon's GDP was USD 19.23 billion in 2013, making it the world's 108th largest economy.

In 2013 Gabon's trade grew by 5.89%. The current GDP per capita is 16,191.92, in
purchasing power adujsted USD.

Gabon's unemployment rate, in 2013, was 19.60%, versus 20.30% in 2012. Inflation in
Gabon, as measured by the change in consumer price index, in 2013, was 0.48%
in 2013 versus 2.66% in 2012.

Gabon's economy is predominantly manufacturing-based. Services account for 31.96% of

the GDP and employs 64.00% of the population. Manufacturing and industry accounts
for 64.02% of GDP and employs 11.80% of the population. Agriculture accounts for 4.02% of
GDP and employs 24.20% of the population.

Government revenue in Gabon was 28.30% of GDP in 2013, while government spending
was 29.35% of GDP. Government debt in Gabon, as a percent of GDP, was n.a.
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Gabon's currency is the CFA Central Franc (XAF). The latest exchange rate, as of 13-Mar-
2015, is 617.97 XAF per 1 USD.

Exports1 Imports1
Franc EU Franc EU
Benin e
1.7 30.5 e
23.5 51.2
Burkina Faso 11.8 26.9 22.5 34.4
Cte dIvoire 14.5 54.2 28.9 52.0
Mali 3.9 37.2 18.9 35.0
Niger 68.2 77.6 22.0 39.6
Senegal 24.6 40.9 33.1 57.4
Togo 5.5 26.6 16.5 34.1
WAEMU2,3 16.2 49.3 25.6 46.3
Cameroon 26.0 73.4 37.6 69.7
Central African7.2 53.1 42.4 56.2
Rep.
Chad 8.5 67.5 43.1 60.2
Congo, Republic10.0 48.9 44.7 68.1
of
Equatorial 5.7 49.8 13.6 54.5
Guinea
Gabon 20.7 31.6 44.2 64.7
CEMAC4 19.5 50.2 40.7 66.3
Total CFA franc zone3 18.0 49.8
30.6 53.4

CFA franc zone trade with France and the European Union (2010-2016; %)

Major Trading Partners:

The CFA Franc BEAC is pegged to the Euro at 1 Euro = 655.957 XAF. It is the currency for six
independent states in central Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of
the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The currency is most traded with currencies of
United States, China, Hong Kong, South Africa, Malaysia, and Canada.

The currency has been criticized for making economic planning for the developing countries
of French West-Africa all but impossible since the CFA's value is pegged to the Euro (whose
monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank). Others disagree and argue that the
CFA "helps stabilize the national currencies of Franc Zone member-countries and greatly
facilitates the flow of exports and imports between France and the member-countries." The
European Union's own assessment of the CFA's link to the Euro, carried out in 2008, noted
that "benefits from economic integration within each of the two monetary unions of the CFA
franc zone, and even more so between them, remained remarkably low" but that "the peg to
the French franc and, since 1999, to the euro as exchange rate anchor is usually found to
have had favorable effects in the region in terms of macroeconomic stability.

Effect of Financial Crisis on Gabon

Africa has been severely affected by the ongoing global financial and economic crisis. Its
impacts are evident in all categories of countries: oil-exporting, middle-income, low-income
and agriculturally dependent economies. The crisis has been slowly eroding gains in
 Page 16 of 16

economic performance achieved by the region since the turn of the millennium. Unlike in the
past, African countries responded promptly to the current crisis through the use of
countercyclical monetary and fiscal policies. Nevertheless, this paper argues that African
policymakers should also prepare themselves to take advantage of global recovery as well
as seize any opportunities that might arise from structural changes induced by the crisis.

The financial sector was the first to be affected by the crisis, with several countries
experiencing greater volatility in their exchange rates and stock markets. Rapid and
unanticipated movements in exchange rates are costly because they have negative
consequences for investment, output and growth.

The crisis has also affected African countries through its impact on local stock markets. Since
the onset of the crisis there has been an increase in stock market volatility in the region. The
significant declines in net worth in stock markets increased the number of non-performing
loans and caused deterioration in bank balance sheets.

Trade and commodity prices also got affected which the crisis has had a devastating effect
on African economies. This is not surprising given the fact that African countries generally
have high trade-GDP ratios.

Future of Financial Economy:

The economy extended by 5.1% in 2014, marginally not exactly the earlier year (5.6%) and
beneath projections of 6.7% made toward the begin of the year. Prospects stay great, with
development projections of 4.6% in 2015 and 4.7% in 2016. Nonetheless, erratic oil costs
and yield make these questionable, particularly with turmoil expected in the keep running up
to presidential races in 2016.

The impact of lower oil costs and yield on open funds by and by underlined the nation's
helplessness to outer stuns. The drop in oil income implied the financial backing must be cut
by 11.4%. These cuts have hit little and medium-sized undertakings through postponed
installments from their primary client, the legislature. Swelling was higher in 2014 (around
6%), double the point of confinement set by the Central African Economic and Monetary
Community (CEMAC).

Rehashed strikes by common hirelings and by the principle oil and gas part exchange union
brought on interruption in 2014. The administration displayed another human speculation
procedure toward the start of the year with an end goal to simplicity social weights.
Regardless of being an upper-center pay nation, Gabon still has entirely low social pointers
and won't accomplish the greater part of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

The administration's yearning spatial improvement plan, "Key Plan Emerging Gabon" (Plan
stratgique Gabon mergent, PSGE), depends on setting up ten "groups" of monetary
movement around the nation to make best utilization of national potential as a method for
expanding the economy, and will require real interest in framework and social
administrations.