<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Burundi<nl>Economy</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Overview:</hi> 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 80% of foreign exchange earnings. 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 agricultural exports and attract foreign investment in industry. Several state-owned coffee companies were privatized via public auction in September 1991.
<item><hi format=bold>National product:</hi> GDP—purchasing power equivalent—$4.4 billion (1993 est.)
<item><hi format=bold>National product real growth rate:</hi> -3.8% (1991)
<item><hi format=bold>National product per capita:</hi> $700 (1993 est.)
<item>• <hi format=ital>partners:</hi> EC 45%, Asia 29%, US 2%
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<item><hi format=bold>External debt:</hi> $970 million (1991)
<item><hi format=bold>Industrial production:</hi> growth rate 11% (1991 est.); accounts for about 15% of GDP
<item><hi format=bold>Electricity:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>capacity:</hi> 55,000 kW
<item>• <hi format=ital>production:</hi> 105 million kWh
<item>• <hi format=ital>consumption per capita:</hi> 20 kWh (1991)
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<item><hi format=bold>Industries:</hi> light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing
<item><hi format=bold>Agriculture:</hi> accounts for 50% 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
<item><hi format=bold>Economic aid:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>recipient:</hi> 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
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<item><hi format=bold>Currency:</hi> 1 Burundi franc (FBu)=100 centimes