CHAPTER FOUR: ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT 440. Between 2000 and 2005, although exports more than doubled (US$46 billion compared with US$21 billion), the same went for imports, which rose from US$9.35 billion to US$19.5 billion. Gross reserves reached US$56 billion, as opposed to US$11.9 billion for the same period. To encourage diversification, mechanisms were put in place to promote foreign trade: export promotion, insurance, export guarantees and promotion financing (such as prospecting, international transport costs, halving of transit costs land and local railway transportation costs). 441. Likewise, concrete action has been taken to reduce rain-dependent agriculture (dams, boreholes, reservoirs, etc.). The objective of US$1 billion in exports has been achieved, with a peak of US$1.1 billion in 2006 versus US$0.9 billion in 2005. ii. Findings of the CRM 442. Macro-economic framework. Looking at the data, it is clear that the macroeconomic framework has been streamlined. The GDP has had an average growth rate of 5 per cent since 2002 (Table 1). It now needs to be consolidated and lifted to a higher bracket (7–8 per cent) with the strong and unavoidable support of the private sector. Algerian per capita GDP went from US$1800 in 2000 to $3116.7 in 2005, which represents an increase of 72 per cent. This improvement was not only due to increases in the oil revenue, since the nonoil GDP rose from 1.2 per cent to 4.7 per cent between 2000 and 2005, with peaks of 6 and 6.2 per cent in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Based on the GDP, the non-oil sector has come to predominate over the past few years. The gross accumulation of fixed capital represents about half of all local expenditure, according to a breakdown of GDP items. A recent IMF study (no. 07/61 of February 2007) shows human capital to be the deciding factor in growth between 1981 and 2005, ahead of labour and financial capital. These data lend support to the appropriateness of the government‟s investment in education, training and health. The public sector plays an exceedingly important role in certain economic activities and, in 2005, accounted for 41 per cent of the GDP, including the oil sector. The public sector thus represents 90 per cent of the assets of financial institutions. 443. Global unemployment halved between 2000 and 2005, falling from 29.5 to 15.3 per cent, and youth unemployment from 48 to 31 per cent. Apparently the unemployment rate dropped to 12.3 per cent in 2006 and is expected to fall below 10 per cent in 2009. The government should therefore give priority to reducing youth unemployment in order to ensure that it is less than 20 per cent by then. 444. A low inflation rate of less than 3 per cent has allowed the prices of goods and services to stabilise and has protected the purchasing power of the poorer strata of society. During field visits, some stakeholders defended the argument in favour of a higher inflation rate. On this subject, the aforementioned IMF study notes that, at the end of a regression exercise carried out in 35 countries, 142