The Burmese Economy Under SPDC [13t

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: The Burmese Economy Under SPDC [13th May]

The Burmese Economy Under SPDC in 1998
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US Intelligence Report
13 May 1999

The Burmese military regime has been practising the so-called free trade
domestically but the opposition and the international observers see it
differently.The following report is the perspectives from the viewpoint of
the US government , based on facts collected by US government agencies
worldwide.

Sincerely,

Julien Moe


Economy?overview: Burma has a mixed economy with private activity dominant
in agriculture, light industry, and transport, and with substantial
state-controlled activity, mainly in energy, heavy industry, and the rice
trade. Government policy in the last nine years, 1989-97, has aimed at
revitalizing the economy after three 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. Although Burma remains a poor Asian country, its rich resources
furnish the potential for substantial long-term increases in income,
exports, and living standards. 

GDP: purchasing power parity?$55.7 billion (1997 est.) 

GDP?real growth rate: 6% (1997 est.) 

GDP?per capita: purchasing power parity?$1,190 (1997 est.) 

GDP?composition by sector: 
agriculture: 61% 
industry: 10% 
services: 29% (1996 est.) 

Inflation rate?consumer price index: 30%-40% (1997 est.) 

Labor force: 
total: 18.8 million (FY95/96 est.) 
by occupation: agriculture 65.2%, industry 14.3%, trade 10.1%, government
6.3%, other 4.1% (FY88/89 est.) 

Unemployment rate: NA% 

Budget: 
revenues: $7.9 billion 
expenditures: $12.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion
(FY96/97) 

Industries: agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood
products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials;
pharmaceuticals; fertilizer 

Industrial production growth rate: 9.2% (FY95/96 est.) 

Electricity?capacity: 1.212 million kW (1995) 


Electricity?production: 4.1 billion kWh (FY95/96 est.) 

Electricity?consumption per capita: 79 kWh (1995) 

Agriculture?products: paddy rice, corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; hardwood 

Exports: 
total value: $693 million (1996) 
commodities: pulses and beans, teak, rice, rubber, hardwood 
partners: Singapore, China, Indonesia, India, Thailand 

Imports: 
total value: $1.4 billion (1996) 
commodities: machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, food
products, consumer goods 
partners: Japan, Singapore, China, Thailand, Malaysia 

Debt?external: $5.3 billion (FY94/95 est.) 

Economic aid: 
recipient: ODA, $61 million (1993) 

Currency: 1 kyat (K) = 100 pyas 

Exchange rates: kyats (K) per US$1?6.3941 (January 1998) 6.2418 (1997),
5.9176 (1996), 5.6670 (1995), 5.9749 (1994), 6.1570 (1993);
unofficial?310-350 (1998) 

Fiscal year: 1 April?31 March 
End of Document

Source:US Intelligence Agencies