Chile has a ynamic market-oriented economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade. During the early 1990s, Chile's reputation as a role model for economic reform was strengthened when the democratic government of Patricio Aylwin - which took over from the military in 1990 - deepened the economic reform initiated by the military government. Growth in real GDP averaged 8% during the period 1991-1997, but fell to half that level in 1998 because of tight monetary policies implemented to keep the current account deficit in check and because of lower export earnings - the latter a product of the global financial crisis. Chile's economy has since recovered and has seen growth rates of 5-7% over the past several years. In 2006, Chile became the country with the highest nominal GDP per capita in Latin America. Even though the exceptional Chilean economic results, when measured exclusively by the GNP indicators (a gauge that does not adequately depict the social depth of economic wellbeing) the Chilean economy income distribution has been extremely poor. Chile ranks 80th among the coutries on the list of income distribution, being the fourth worst in Latin America (only above Brazil, Paraguay and Colombia) and ranking, on that important indicator, behind much poorer African coutries such as Zambia, Nigeria and Malawi.