home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Economy
-
- Overview: Ethiopia is one of the poorest and least developed
- countries in Africa. Its economy is based on subsistence
- agriculture, which accounts for about 45% of GDP, 90% of
- exports, and 80% of total employment; coffee generates over
- 60% of export earnings. The manufacturing sector is heavily
- dependent on inputs from the agricultural sector. The economy
- is centrally planned, and over 90% of large-scale industry
- is state run. Favorable agricultural weather largely explains
- the 4.5% growth in output in FY89.
-
- GDP: $6.6 billion, per capita $130, real growth rate 4.5%
- (FY89 est.).
-
- Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.6% (FY89).
-
- Unemployment rate: NA; shortage of skilled manpower.
-
- Budget: revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $1.9 billion,
- including capital expenditures of $0.7 billion (FY87).
-
- Exports: $418 million (f.o.b., FY88); commodities--coffee 60%,
- hides; partners--US, FRG, Djibouti, Japan, PDRY, France, Italy.
-
- Imports: $1.1 billion (c.i.f., FY88), commodities--food,
- fuels, capital goods; partners--USSR, Italy, FRG, Japan,
- UK, US, France.
-
- External debt: $2.6 billion (1988).
-
- Industrial production: growth rate -0.2% (FY88 est.).
-
- Electricity: 330,000 kW capacity; 700 million kWh produced,
- 14 kWh per capita (1989).
-
- Industries: cement, textiles, food processing, oil refinery.
-
- Agriculture: accounts for 45% of GDP and is the most important
- sector of the economy even though frequent droughts, poor
- cultivation practices, and state economic policies keep
- farm output low; famines not uncommon; export crops of coffee
- and oilseeds grown partly on state farms; estimated 50%
- of agricultural production at subsistence level; principal
- crops and livestock--cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseeds,
- potatoes, sugarcane, vegetables, hides and skins, cattle,
- sheep, goats.
-
- Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $471 million;
- Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
- (1970-87), $2.6 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $8
- million; Communist countries (1970-88), $2.0 billion.
-
- Currency: birr (plural--birr); 1 birr (Br) = 100 cents.
-
- Exchange rates: birr (Br) per US$1--2.0700 (fixed rate).
-
- Fiscal year: 8 July-7 July.
-