he foreign trade
deficit widened to more than $1 billion. For the long run, the government
must press forward with general market-oriented economic reforms.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $7.0 billion, per capita $1,460; real growth rate
3.0% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
15% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
14% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues $1.2 billion; expenditures $1.2 billion, including capital
expenditures of $487 million (1991)
Exports:
$642 million (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
cotton, soybean, timber, vegetable oils, coffee, tung oil, meat products
partners:
EC 37%, Brazil 25%, Argentina 10%, Chile 6%, US 6%
Imports:
$1.85 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
capital goods 35%, consumer goods 20%, fuels and lubricants 19%, raw
materials 16%, foodstuffs, beverages, and tobacco 10%
partners:
Brazil 30%, EC 20%, US 18%, Argentina 8%, Japan 7%
External debt:
$1.7 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 5.9% (1989 est.); accounts for 16% of GDP
Electricity:
5,578,000 kW capacity; 15,447 million kWh produced, 3,219 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
meat packing, oilseed crushing, milling, brewing, textiles, other light
consumer goods, cement, construction
Agriculture:
accounts for 25% of GDP and 44% of labor force; cash crops - cotton,
sugarcane; other crops - corn, wheat, tobacco, soybeans, cassava, fruits,
and vegetables; animal products - beef, pork, eggs, milk; surplus producer
of timber; self-sufficient in most foods

:Paraguay Economy

Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; important
transshipment point for Bolivian cocaine headed for the US and Europe
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $172 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $1.1 billion
Currency:
guarani (plural - guaranies); 1 guarani (G) = 100 centimos
Exchange rates:
guaranies (G) per US$ - 1,447.5 (March 1992), 1,325.2 (1991), 1,229.8
(1990), 1,056.2 (1989), 550.00 (fixed rate 1986-February 1989),
Fiscal year:
calendar year

:Paraguay Communications

Railroads:
970 km total; 440 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 60 km 1.000-meter gauge,
470 km various narrow gauge (privately owned)
Highways:
21,960 km total; 1,788 km paved, 474 km gravel, and 19,698 k