CIA Factbook The World Factbook 1994: BurmaEconomy Overview: Burma has a mixed economy with about 70% private activity, mainly in agriculture, light industry, and transport, and with about 30% state-controlled activity, mainly in energy, heavy industry, and foreign trade. Government policy in the last five years, 1989-93, has aimed at revitalizing the economy after four decades of tight central planning. Thus, private activity has markedly increased; foreign investment has been encouraged, so far with moderate success; and efforts continue to increase the efficiency of state enterprises. Published estimates of Burma's foreign trade are greatly understated because of the volume of black market trade. A major ongoing problem is the failure to achieve monetary and fiscal stability. Inflation has been running at 25% to 30% annually. Good weather helped boost GDP by perhaps 5% in 1993. Although Burma remains a poor Asian country, its rich resources furnish the potential for substantial long-term increases in income, exports, and living standards. National product: GDP—purchasing power equivalent—$41 billion (1993 est.) National product real growth rate: 5% (1993 est.) National product per capita: $950 (1993 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 30% (1993 est.) Unemployment rate: NA% Budget: • revenues: $8.1 billion • expenditures: $11.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992) Exports: $613.4 million (FY93) • commodities: pulses and beans, teak, rice, hardwood • partners: Singapore, China, Thailand, India, Hong Kong Imports: $1.02 billion (FY93) • commodities: machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, food products • partners: Japan, China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia External debt: $4 billion (1992) Industrial production: growth rate 4.9% (FY93 est.); accounts for 10% of GDP Electricity: • capacity: 1,100,000 kW • production: 2.8 billion kWh • consumption per capita: 65 kWh (1992) Industries: agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products; petroleum refining; mining of copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer Agriculture: accounts for 40% of GDP and 66% of employment (including fish and forestry); self-sufficient in food; principal crops—paddy rice, corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; world's largest stand of hardwood trees; rice and timber account for 55% of export revenues Illicit drugs: world's largest illicit producer of opium (2,575 metric tons in 1993) and minor producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; opium production has doubled since the collapse of Rangoon's antinarcotic programs Economic aid: • recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $158 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $3.9 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $424 million Currency: 1 kyat (K)=100 pyas Exchange rates: kyats (K) per US$1—6.2301 (December 1993), 6.1570 (1993), 6.1045 (1992), 6.2837 (1991), 6.3386 (1990), 6.7049 (1989); unofficial—105 Fiscal year: 1 April–31 March