89-93, has
aimed at revitalizing the economy after four decades of tight central
planning. Thus, private activity has markedly increased; foreign
investment has been encouraged, so far with moderate success; and
efforts continue to increase the efficiency of state enterprises.
Published estimates of Burma's foreign trade are greatly understated
because of the volume of black market trade. A major ongoing problem
is the failure to achieve monetary and fiscal stability. Inflation has
been running at 25% to 30% annually. Good weather helped boost GDP by
perhaps 5% in 1993. Although Burma remains a poor Asian country, its
rich resources furnish the potential for substantial long-term
increases in income, exports, and living standards.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $41 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
5% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
$950 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
30% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues:
$8.1 billion
expenditures:
$11.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)
Exports:
$613.4 million (FY93)
commodities:
pulses and beans, teak, rice, hardwood
partners:
Singapore, China, Thailand, India, Hong Kong
Imports:
$1.02 billion (FY93)
commodities:
machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, food products
partners:
Japan, China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia
External debt:
$4 billion (1992)
Industrial production:
growth rate 4.9% (FY93 est.); accounts for 10% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
1,100,000 kW
production:
2.8 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
65 kWh (1992)
Industries:
agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood
products; petroleum refining; mining of copper, tin, tungsten, iron;
construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer
Agriculture:
accounts for 40% of GDP and 66% of employment (including fish and
forestry); self-sufficient in food; principal crops - paddy rice,
corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; world's largest stand of hardwood
trees; rice and timber account for 55% of export revenues
Illicit drugs:
world's largest illicit producer of opium (2,575 metric tons in 1993)
and minor producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; opium
production has doubled since the collapse of Rangoon's antinarcotic
programs
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im