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- Economy
-
- Overview: Since the 1979 revolution, the banks, petroleum
- industry, transportation, utilities, and mining have been
- nationalized, but the new five-year plan--the first since
- the revolution--passed in January 1990, calls for the transfer
- of many government-controlled enterprises to the private
- sector. War-related disruptions, massive corruption, mismanagement,
- demographic pressures, and ideological rigidities have kept
- economic growth at depressed levels. Oil accounts for 90%
- of export revenues. A combination of war damage and low
- oil prices brought a 2% drop in GNP in 1988. GNP probably
- rose slightly in 1989, considerably short of the 3.4% population
- growth rate in 1989. Heating oil and gasoline are rationed.
- Agriculture has suffered from the war, land reform, and
- shortages of equipment and materials. The five-year plan
- seeks to reinvigorate the economy by increasing the role
- of the private sector, boosting nonoil income, and securing
- foreign loans. The plan is overly ambitious but probably
- will generate some short-term relief.
-
- GNP: $97.6 billion, per capita $1,800; real growth rate 0-1% (1989).
-
- Inflation rate (consumer prices): 50-80% (1989).
-
- Unemployment rate: 30% (1989).
-
- Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $55.1 billion, including
- capital expenditures of $11.5 billion (FY88 est.).
-
- Exports: $12.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--petroleum
- 90%, carpets, fruits, nuts, hides; partners--Japan, Turkey,
- Italy, Netherlands, Spain, France, FRG.
-
- Imports: $12.0 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--machinery,
- military supplies, metal works, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals,
- technical services, refined oil products; partners--FRG,
- Japan, Turkey, UK, Italy.
-
- External debt: $4-5 billion (1989).
-
- Industrial production: growth rate NA%.
-
- Electricity: 14,579,000 kW capacity; 40,000 million kWh
- produced, 740 kWh per capita (1989).
-
- Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement
- and other building materials, food processing (particularly
- sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabricating
- (steel and copper).
-
- Agriculture: principal products--rice, other grains, sugar
- beets, fruits, nuts, cotton, dairy products, wool, caviar;
- not self-sufficient in food.
-
- Illicit drugs: illicit producer of opium poppy for the domestic
- and international drug trade.
-
- Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $1.0 billion;
- Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
- (1970-87), $1.5 billion; Communist countries (1970-88),
- $976 million; note--aid fell sharply following the 1979
- revolution.
-
- Currency: Iranian rial (plural--rials); 1 Iranian rial (IR) =
- 100 dinars; note--domestic figures are generally referred to in
- terms of the toman (plural--tomans), which equals 10 rials.
-
- Exchange rates: Iranian rials (IR) per US$1--70.019 (January
- 1990), 72.015 (1989), 68.683 (1988), 71.460 (1987), 78.760
- (1986), 91.052 (1985).
-
- Fiscal year: 21 March-20 March.
-