st the resumption of growth in 1996 - at
a low rate. Russian official data, which fail to capture a
considerable portion of private sector output and employment, show
that GDP declined by 4% in 1995, as compared with a 15% decline in
1994. Despite continued declines in agricultural and industrial
production, unemployment climbed only slowly to about 8% of the work
force by yearend because government policies aimed at softening the
impact of reforms have created incentives for enterprises to keep
workers on the rolls even as production slowed to a crawl. Moscow
renewed tightened financial policies in early 1995 and succeeded in
reducing monthly consumer price inflation from 18% in January to
about 3% in December, the lowest monthly rate since the beginning of
reform. According to official trade statistics, Russia ran a $19.9
billion trade surplus for 1995, up from $15.9 billion in 1994. It
continued to shift its trade away from the other former Soviet
republics toward the West, with the CIS countries' share of Russian
trade falling to 22% in 1995. Russia made good progress with
official and commercial creditors in 1995 in resolving the issue of
its $105 billion in Soviet-era debts. When completed, these Paris
Club and London Club rescheduling agreements will reduce Russia's
repayment liabilities from $20 billion to less than $5 billion
annually through the end of the decade. Capital flight reportedly
continued to be a problem in 1995, with billions of additional
dollars in assets being moved abroad, primarily to bank accounts in
Europe.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $796 billion (1995 estimate as
extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)

GDP real growth rate: -4% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $5,300 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 6%
industry: 41%
services: 53%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7% monthly average (1995 est.)

Labor force: 85 million (1993)
by occupation: production and economic services 83.9%, government
16.1%

Unemployment rate: 8.2% (December 1995) with considerable
additional underemployment

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries: complete range of mining and extractive industries
producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of
machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and
space vehicles; shipbui