he time, and also in 1970, they had discerned
evidence of disappointment on the part of the leadership with the extent
of the financial assistance, delays in the supply of machinery, and an
unwillingness or inability to supply much-needed consumer goods. The
leadership's awareness of the inadequacy of foreign aid in relation to
the planned development program has been evidenced, in its appeals for
greater productivity, by the high frequency of references to the Party's
principle of reliance on the country's own efforts and in its continuing
campaign for the utmost economy of resources.

The country's cumulative clearing debt to Communist China on the
commodity trading account at the end of 1968 was estimated at roughly
US$300 million. This amount did not include the substantial additional
costs of assistance in the form of technical advisers who have guided
the construction and operation of major industrial projects. Estimates
of these costs or of the number of aid technicians in the country were
not available.

Foreign Trade

Because of the dearth of domestic resources in relation to the needs for
economic development and consumption, foreign trade has consistently
shown a negative balance. A marked improvement in this respect has taken
place since 1955, even though the absolute deficit has been growing with
the rising trade volume. In the 1960s exports covered 60 percent or more
of imports, compared with 47 percent in the 1956-60 period and 31
percent in the preceding eleven post-World War II years. This
improvement in the trade balance has been achieved through a consistent
policy of diversifying domestic production with a view to import
substitution, developing all possible resources for the production of
exportable goods, improving product quality, and severely restricting
domestic consumption. The annual trade deficit in 1967 and 1968 was
about 200 million leks.

The volume of trade has been rising quite steadily from 140 million leks
in 1950 to 950 million leks in 1968. During this period imports
increased from 110 million to 580 million leks, and exports rose from 30
million to 370 million leks. The Fourth Five-Year Plan calls for an
increase of 31 percent in total trade over the volume of the preceding
five years, including an increase of 36 percent in exports and 28
percent in imports. These figures imply a planned average annual trade
volume in the 1966-70 period of 885 million leks, of which 355 millio