ion in May 1992

:New Zealand Government

Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
House of Representatives:
last held on 27 October 1990 (next to be held October 1993); results - NP
49%, NZLP 35%, Green Party 7%, NLP 5%; seats - (97 total) NP 67, NZLP 29,
NLP 1
Member of:
ANZUS (US suspended security obligations to NZ on 11 August 1986), APEC,
AsDB, Australia Group, C, CCC, CP, COCOM, (cooperating country), EBRD,
ESCAP, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS,
MTCR, OECD, PCA, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador - Denis Bazely Gordon McLEAN; Chancery at 37 Observatory Circle
NW, Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 328-4800; there are New Zealand
Consulates General in Los Angeles and New York
US:
Ambassador Della M. NEWMAN; Embassy at 29 Fitzherbert Terrace, Thorndon,
Wellington (mailing address is P. O. Box 1190, Wellington; PSC 467, Box 1,
FPO AP 96531-1001); telephone [64] (4) 722-068; FAX [64] (4) 723-537; there
is a US Consulate General in Auckland
Flag:
blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant with four red
five-pointed stars edged in white centered in the outer half of the flag;
the stars represent the Southern Cross constellation

:New Zealand Economy

Overview:
Since 1984 the government has been reorienting an agrarian economy dependent
on a guaranteed British market to an open free market economy that can
compete on the global scene. The government has hoped that dynamic growth
would boost real incomes, reduce inflationary pressures, and permit the
expansion of welfare benefits. The results have been mixed: inflation is
down from double-digit levels, but growth has been sluggish and
unemployment, always a highly sensitive issue, has exceeded 10% since May
1991. In 1988, GDP fell by 1%, in 1989 grew by a moderate 2.4%, and was flat
in 1990-91.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - $46.2 billion, per capita $14,000; real growth
rate - 0.4% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.0% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
10.7% (September 1991)
Budget:
revenues $17.6 billion; expenditures $18.3 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (FY91 est.)
Exports:
$9.4