and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word
Allah) in red is centered in the white band; ALLAH AKBAR (God is
Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom
edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band

@Iran:Economy

Economy-overview: Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning,
state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village
agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures.
Newly elected President KHATAMI has continued to follow the market
reform plans of former President RAFSANJANI and has indicated that he
will pursue diversification of Iran's oil-reliant economy. In the
early 1990s, Iran experienced a financial crisis and was forced to
reschedule $15 billion in debt. The strong oil market in 1996 helped
ease financial pressures on Iran and allowed for Tehran's timely debt
service payments. Iran's financial situation tightened in 1997 and
early 1998 because of lower oil prices. Iran may be forced to decrease
imports and slow debt repayments if the oil market worsens further.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$371.2 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 3.2% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$5,500 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 21%
industry: 37%
services: 42% (1994 est.)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 23% (1996)

Labor force:
total: 15.4 million
by occupation: agriculture 33%, manufacturing 21% (1988 est.)
note: shortage of skilled labor

Unemployment rate: more than 30% (January 1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $34.6 billion
expenditures: $34.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $11.8
billion (FY96/97)

Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other
construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining
and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating, armaments

Industrial production growth rate: 5.7% (FY95/96 est.)

Electricity-capacity: 25.117 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 79 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 1,222 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits,
nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar

Exports:
total value: $19 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: petroleum 80%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides, iron, steel
partners: Japan, US, UK, Germany, South Korea, UAE

Imports:
total value: $15.6 billion (f.o.b., 1997 es