Sierra Leone's economy is in bad shape

The military government in Sierra Leone says the country's economy is in very bad shape.

A statement by the Minister of Finance, Joe Amara Bangali, said this year gross domestic product had fallen by twenty-seven percent, inflation had risen rose to forty percent and the currency had lost more than half its value against the dollar.

Speaking on state radio, Mr Bangali said the government revenue as projected before the miltary took power in May had fallen by sixty percent.

He said customs revenue had fallen to the lowest levels ever.

A Nigerian-led regional peace keeping force, the ECOMOG, is enforcing a blockade aginst Sierra Leone to force the military rulers to hand over power to the ousted civilian president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service