Liberia has a chronic payments deficit, with large capital outflows and debt-service payments. Since civil war broke out in 1989, exports of foreign currency-earning raw materials (iron, rubber, timber, diamonds, and gold) have plummeted, and massive emergency aid operations began.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2000 the purchasing power parity of Liberia's exports was $55 million while imports totaled $170 million resulting in a trade deficit of $115 million.