Rwanda Economic Forecast

Rwanda is a poor rural country and of all countries in Africa, it is the most densely populated. Because of few natural resources, and minimal industry opportunities, people struggle. While this country’s economy was already weak, in 1994 genocide added to the pressures of impoverishment, specifically the female population. Because of this, private and external investments were nearly impossible to attract.

Rwanda is a poor rural country and of all countries in Africa, it is the most densely populated. Because of few natural resources, and minimal industry opportunities, people struggle. While this country’s economy was already weak, in 1994 genocide added to the pressures of impoverishment, specifically the female population. Because of this, private and external investments were nearly impossible to attract.

Although Rwanda’s poverty level is still bad, the Gross Domestic Product or GDP has seen some recovery. A huge challenge although Rwanda has a fertile ecosystem, foods production cannot keep up with consumer demand. To get the country back on track, the government has received a significant amount of assistance from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in 2005. Then in 2006, additional aid was received from the Millennium Challenge Account as a means of lowering the poverty level through better facilities, infrastructure, domestic investment, and education. The country still needs market reform primarily due to energy shortages along with low food production.

Rwanda GDP Forecast

Although the people of Rwanda depend on income from fisheries and farming, agriculture accounts for approximately 90% of jobs. Today, government officials are working hard to improve the industry and services sectors although solutions are long-term. As far as the Rwanda GDP (Gross Domestic Product, Current Prices, US Dollars), experts look at historical data, as well as values that are based on the GDP in national currency and projections for exchange rates. In looking at the GDP from 2008, numbers closed at $4.69 billion in US dollars. Then for the next 12 months, a small increase of 11.76% was experienced that closed 2009’s GDP out at $5.245 billion and placed the country in the number 139 slot for world rankings. Regarding the future of Rwanda specific to GDP, forecasts for 2010 are at $5.69 billion, followed by a larger change for 2015 taking numbers to $8.583 billion in US dollars.

Rwanda Unemployment Forecast

Now, when looking at the Rwanda population, this country is home to almost 10 million people. Of these, some 90% work in the agriculture sector but even so, approximately 60% of the country’s population still lives below the poverty line. Although Rwanda has experienced a struggling economy for some time, when genocide hit in 1994, the country was devastated even more, virtually destroying the industry sector. When this occurred, the already high unemployment rate worsened and almost 20% of Rwanda’s population was killed. All of this coupled with the AIDS epidemic, the country has suffered. Although, the Rwanda unemployment rate for 2010 has not been published, we know that in 2000, it was 14% and considering that only 4.5 million people are reportedly employed, we can assume the rate has increased.

Rwanda Inflation Rate Forecast

Regarding the Rwanda inflation rate, instead of using end-of-period data, forecasters and economists use data based on averages for the given year using an index of 2000=100. By the end of 2008, the inflation rate was reported at 15.44% but with a 32.63% reduction seen, 2009 ended at 10.4%. With this, Rwanda was ranked worldwide at number 25. For the future, experts speculate that 2010 will have an inflation rate of 6.40% and for 2015, slightly lower at 5.00%.

Rwanda Current Account Balance Forecast

To determine the Rwanda current account balance, forecasters use virtually all transactions for classifications of goods, services, income, and current transfers with the exception of capital and financial items. The year 2008 had an account balance of minus $0.23 billion in US dollars. Following, a moderate increase of 65.22% was seen, closing 2009 at minus $0.38 billion and putting the year at number 97 for world rankings. Regarding 2010 and 2015, forecasters are predicting the current account balance will be a negative $0.41 billion and negative $0.442 billion in US dollars, respectively.