bassador Paul M. CLEVELAND; Embassy at 376 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala
Lumpur (mailing address is P. O. Box No. 10035, 50700 Kuala Lumpur);
telephone [60] (3) 248-9011; FAX [60] (3) 242-2207
Flag:
fourteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top) alternating with white
(bottom); there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a
yellow crescent and a yellow fourteen-pointed star; the crescent and the
star are traditional symbols of Islam; the design was based on the flag of
the US

:Malaysia Economy

Overview:
During the period 1988-91 booming exports helped Malaysia continue to
recover from the severe 1985-86 recession. Real output grew by 8.8% in 1989,
10% in 1990, and 8.6% in 1991, helped by vigorous growth in manufacturing
output, further increases in foreign direct investment - particularly from
Japanese and Taiwanese firms facing higher costs at home - and increased oil
production. Malaysia has become the world's third-largest producer of
semiconductor devices (after the US and Japan) and the world's largest
exporter of semiconductor devices. Inflation has remained low; unemployment
has stood at 6% of the labor force; and the government has followed prudent
fiscal/monetary policies. The country is not self-sufficient in food, and
some of the rural population subsist at the poverty level. Malaysia's high
export dependence leaves it vulnerable to a recession in the OECD countries
or a fall in world commodity prices.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $48.0 billion, per capita $2,670; real growth
rate 8.6% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.5% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
5.8% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues $12.2 billion; expenditures $14.4 billion, including capital
expenditures of $3.2 billion (1991 est.)
Exports:
$35.4 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
electrical manufactures, crude petroleum, timber, rubber, palm oil, textiles
partners:
Singapore, US, Japan, EC
Imports:
$38.7 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
food, crude oil, consumer goods, intermediate goods, capital equipment,
chemicals
partners:
Japan, US, Singapore, Germany, UK
External debt:
$21.3 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 18% (1990); accounts for 40% of GDP
Electricity:
5,600,000 kW capacity; 16,500 million kWh produced, 940 kWh per c