: 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. Over the past
several years, the government has introduced several measures to
liberalize the economy and reduce government intervention, but most of
these changes have moved slowly because of political opposition. Iran
has faced increasingly severe financial difficulties since mid-1992
due to an import surge that began in 1989 and general financial
mismanagement. At yearend 1993 the Iranian Government estimated that
it owed foreign creditors about $30 billion; an estimated $8 billion
of this debt was in arrears. At yearend 1994, Iran rescheduled $12
billion in debt. Earnings from oil exports - which provide 90% of
Iran's export revenues - are providing less relief to Iran than usual
because of reduced oil prices.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $310 billion (1994
est.)

National product real growth rate: -2% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $4,720 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 35% (1994)

Unemployment rate: over 30% (1994 est.)

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

Exports: $16 billion (f.o.b., FY92/93 est.)
commodities: petroleum 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides
partners: Japan, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg,
Spain, and Germany

Imports: $18 billion (c.i.f., FY92/93 est.)
commodities: machinery, military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs,
pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products
partners: Germany, Japan, Italy, UK, UAE

External debt: $30 billion (December 1993)

Industrial production: growth rate 4.6% (1993 est.); accounts for
almost 30% of GDP, including petroleum

Electricity:
capacity: 19,080,000 kW
production: 50.8 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 745 kWh (1993)

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

Agriculture: accounts for about 20% of GDP; principal products -
wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy
products, wool, caviar; not self-sufficient in food

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of opium poppy for the domestic and
international drug trade