o October 1998, endangered the livelihoods of more than 20 million
people. Foodgrain production fell by 4 million tons, forcing Dhaka
to triple its normal foodgrain imports and placing severe pressure
on Bangladesh's balance of payments. The floods increased the
country's reliance on large-scale international aid. So far the East
Asian financial crisis has not had major impact on the economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$175.5 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 4% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$1,380 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 30%
industry: 17%
services: 53% (1997)

Population below poverty line: 35.6% (1995-96 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4.1%
highest 10%: 23.7% (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7% (1998)

Labor force: 56 million
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and
Oman (1996)

Labor force--by occupation: agriculture 65%, services 25%,
industry and mining 10% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 35.2% (1996)

Budget:
revenues: $3.8 billion
expenditures: $5.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1997)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 3.6% (1997)

Electricity--production: 11.5 billion kWh (1997)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 97.35%
hydro: 2.65%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 11.3 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

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

Exports: $4.4 billion (1997)

Exports--commodities: garments, jute and jute goods, leather,
frozen fish and seafood

Exports--partners: Western Europe 42%, US 30%, Hong Kong 4%, Japan
3% (FY95/96 est.)

Imports: $7.1 billion (1997)

Imports--commodities: capital goods, textiles, food, petroleum
products

Imports--partners: India 21%, China 10%, Western Europe 8%, Hong
Kong 7%, Singapore 6% (FY95/96 est.)

Debt--external: $16.7 billion (1997)

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

Currency: 1 taka (Tk) = 100 poisha

Exchange rates: taka (Tk) per US$1--48.500 (January 1999), 46.906
(1998), 43.892 (1997), 41.794 (1996), 40.278 (1995), 40.212 (1994)

Fiscal year: 1 July--30 June