nt declined throughout the first half of the 1980s because of
internal disorders, lack of government administrative control, and a
growing foreign debt. A sharp increase in foreign aid, attracted by an
economic reform policy, resulted in successive years of economic
growth in the late 1980s, but aid has declined steadily since 1989.
Agricultural output is at only 75% of its 1981 level, and grain has to
be imported. Industry operates at only 20-40% of capacity. The economy
depends heavily on foreign assistance to keep afloat. Peace accords
signed in October 1992 improved chances of foreign investment, aided
IMF-supported economic reforms, and supported continued economic
recovery.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $9.8 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
4.1% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
$600 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
40% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
50% (1989 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$252 million
expenditures:
$607 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
Exports:
$164.4 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities:
shrimp 48%, cashews 21%, sugar 10%, copra 3%, citrus 3%
partners:
US, Western Europe, Germany, Japan
Imports:
$1.03 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities:
food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum
partners:
US, Western Europe, USSR
External debt:
$5 billion (1992 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 5% (1989 est.)
Electricity:
capacity:
2,270,000 kW
production:
1.745 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
115 kWh (1991)
Industries:
food, beverages, chemicals (fertilizer, soap, paints), petroleum
products, textiles, nonmetallic mineral products (cement, glass,
asbestos), tobacco
Agriculture:
accounts for 50% of GDP and about 90% of exports; cash crops - cotton,
cashew nuts, sugarcane, tea, shrimp; other crops - cassava, corn,
rice, tropical fruits; not self-sufficient in food
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $350 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $4.4
billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $37 million; Communist
countries (1970-89), $890 million
Currency:
1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
meticais (Mt) per US$1 - 4,941.3 (October 1993), 2,550.40 (1992),
1,763.99 (1991), 1,053.09 (1990), 844.34 (1989)
Fiscal year:
ca