Economy (Burundi)
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Overview:
A landlocked, resource-poor country in an early stage of economic
development, Burundi is predominately agricultural with only a few basic
industries. Its economic health depends on the coffee crop, which accounts
for an average 90% of foreign exchange earnings each year. The ability to
pay for imports therefore continues to rest largely on the vagaries of the
climate and the international coffee market. As part of its economic reform
agenda, launched in February 1991 with IMF and World Bank support, Burundi
is trying to diversify its export agriculture capability and attract foreign
investment in industry. Several state-owned coffee companies were privatized
via public auction in September 1991.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $1.13 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate
3.4% (1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
7.1% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $158 million; expenditures $204 million, including capital
expenditures of $131 million (1989 est.)
Exports:
$74.7 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
coffee 88%, tea, hides, and skins
partners:
EC 83%, US 5%, Asia 2%
Imports:
$234.6 million (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
capital goods 31%, petroleum products 15%, foodstuffs, consumer goods
partners:
EC 57%, Asia 23%, US 3%
External debt:
$1.0 billion (1990 est.)
Industrial production:
real growth rate 5.1% (1986); accounts for about 10% of GDP
Electricity:
55,000 kW capacity; 105 million kWh produced, 20 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imports;
public works construction; food processing
Agriculture:
accounts for 60% of GDP; 90% of population dependent on subsistence farming;
marginally self-sufficient in food production; cash crops - coffee, cotton,
tea; food crops - corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc; livestock
- meat, milk, hides, and skins
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $71 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $10.2 billion; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $32 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $175
million
Currency:
Burundi franc (plural - francs); 1 Burundi franc (FBu) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates:
Burundi francs (FBu) per US$1 - 193.72 (January 1992), 181.51 (1991), 171.26
(1990), 158.67 (1989), 140.40 (1988), 123. 56 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
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