eign firms for oil and gas exploration, better countrywide
distribution of cooking gas, and the construction of natural gas
pipelines and power plants. Progress on other economic reforms has
been halting because of opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector
unions, and other vested interest groups.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$167 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 5.5% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$1,330 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 30%
industry: 18%
services: 52% (1996)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 2.5% (1996)

Labor force:
total: 56 million
by occupation: agriculture 63%, services 25%, industry and mining 10%
(1996)
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and Oman
(1996)

Unemployment rate: 35.2% (1996)

Budget:
revenues: $3.6 billion
expenditures: $5.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $3
billion (FY96/97)

Industries: jute manufacturing, cotton textiles, food processing,
steel, fertilizer

Industrial production growth rate: 5.3% (1996)

Electricity-capacity: 2.978 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 11.5 billion kWh (1997)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 71 kWh (1997 est.)

Agriculture-products: rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes;
beef, milk, poultry

Exports:
total value: $3.9 billion (1996)
commodities: garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and
seafood
partners: Western Europe 42%, US 30%, Hong Kong 4%, Japan 3% (FY95/96
est.)

Imports:
total value: $6.9 billion (1996)
commodities: capital goods, textiles, food, petroleum products
partners: India 21%, China 10%, Western Europe 8%, Hong Kong 7%,
Singapore 6% (FY95/96 est.)

Debt-external: $17.1 billion (1996)

Economic aid:
recipient: $1.475 billion (FY96/97)

Currency: 1 taka (Tk) = 100 poisha

Exchange rates: taka (Tk) per US$1-45.450 (January 1998), 43.892
(1997), 41.794 (1996), 40.278 (1995), 40.212 (1994), 39.567 (1993)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Communications

Telephones: 249,800 (1994 est.)

Telephone system:
domestic: poor domestic telephone service
international: satellite earth stations-2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean);
international radiotelephone communications and landline service to
neighboring countries

Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 6, shortwave 0

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: 11

Televisions: 350,000 (1993 est.)

@Bangladesh:Transportation

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