vernment announced a program of shock therapy to stabilize the
economy and establish a market economy. In an effort to expand international
ties, Tirane has reestablished diplomatic relations with the former Soviet
Union and the US and has joined the IMF and World Bank. The Albanians have
also passed legislation allowing foreign investment. Albania possesses
considerable mineral resources and, until 1990, was largely self-sufficient
in food; however, the breakup of cooperative farms in 1991 and general
economic decline forced Albania to rely on foreign aid to maintain adequate
supplies. Available statistics on Albanian economic activity are rudimentary
and subject to an especially wide margin of error.
GNP:
purchasing power equivalent - $2.7 billion, per capita $820; real growth
rate --35% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
100% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
40% (1992 est.)
Budget:
revenues $1.1 billion; expenditures $1.4 billion, including capital
expenditures of $70 million (1991 est.)
Exports:
$80 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
asphalt, petroleum products, metals and metallic ores, electricity, crude
oil, vegetables, fruits, tobacco
partners:
Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania,
Bulgaria, Hungary
Imports:
$147 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
machinery, machine tools, iron and steel products, textiles, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals
partners:
Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary,
Bulgaria
External debt:
$500 million (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate --55% (1991 est.)
Electricity:
1,690,000 kW capacity; 5,000 million kWh produced, 1,530 kWh per capita
(1990)
Industries:
food processing, textiles and clothing, lumber, oil, cement, chemicals,
basic metals, hydropower

:Albania Economy

Agriculture:
arable land per capita among lowest in Europe; over 60% of arable land now
in private hands; one-half of work force engaged in farming; wide range of
temperate-zone crops and livestock; severe dislocations suffered in 1991
Economic aid:
$190 million humanitarian aid, $94 million in loans/guarantees/credits
Currency:
lek (plural - leke); 1 lek (L) = 100 qintars
Exchange rates:
leke (L) per US$1 - 50 (January 1992), 25 (September 1991)
Fiscal year: