Economy (Uruguay)
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     Overview:
         The economy is slowly recovering from the deep recession of the early 1980s.
         In 1988 real GDP grew by only 0.5% and in 1989 by 1.5%. The recovery was led
         by growth in the agriculture and fishing sectors, agriculture alone
         contributing 20% to GDP, employing about 11% of the labor force, and
         generating a large proportion of export earnings. Raising livestock,
         particularly cattle and sheep, is the major agricultural activity. In 1991,
         domestic growth improved somewhat over 1990, but various government factors,
         including concentration on the external sector, adverse weather conditions,
         and greater attention to bringing down inflation and reducing the fiscal
         deficit kept output from expanding rapidly. In a major step toward greater
         regional economic cooperation, Uruguay joined Brazil, Argentina, and
         Paraguay in forming the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur). President
         LACALLE continues to press ahead with a broad economic reform plan to reduce
         state intervention in the economy, but he faces strong opposition.
     GDP:
         exchange rate conversion - $9.1 billion, per capita $2,935; real growth rate
         2.3% (1991 est.)
     Inflation rate (consumer prices):
         60% (1992 est.)
     Unemployment rate:
         8.5% (1991 est.)
     Budget:
         revenues $1.2 billion; expenditures $1.4 billion, including capital
         expenditures of $165 million (1988)
     Exports:
         $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
       commodities:
         hides and leather goods 17%, beef 10%, wool 9%, fish 7%, rice 4%
       partners:
         Brazil, US, Argentina, Germany
     Imports:
         $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
       commodities:
         fuels and lubricants 15%, metals, machinery, transportation equipment,
         industrial chemicals
       partners:
         Brazil 23%, Argentina 17%, US 10%, EC 27.1% (1990)
     External debt:
         $4.2 billion (1991 est.)
     Industrial production:
         growth rate -1.4% (1990), accounts for almost 25% of GDP
     Electricity:
         2,065,000 kW capacity; 5,677 million kWh produced, 1,819 kWh per capita
         (1991)
     Industries:
         meat processing, wool and hides, sugar, textiles, footwear, leather apparel,
         tires, cement, fishing, petroleum refining, wine
     Agriculture:
         large areas devoted to livestock grazing; wheat, rice, corn, sorghum;
         self-sufficient in most basic foodstuffs
     Economic aid:
         US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $105 million; Western (non-US)
         countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $420 million;
         Communist countries (1970-89), $69 million
     Currency:
         new Uruguayan peso (plural - pesos); 1 new Uruguayan peso (N$Ur) = 100
         centesimos