ed, however, for less than 2%
of the USSR's output. Another salient characteristic of the economy has been
a flourishing private sector (compared with the other republics). Almost 30%
of the labor force is employed in agriculture and 18% in industry. Mineral
resources consist of manganese and copper, and, to a lesser extent,
molybdenum, arsenic, tungsten, and mercury. Except for very small quantities
of domestic oil, gas, and coal, fuel must be imported from neighboring
republics. Oil and its products are delivered by pipeline from Azerbaijan to
the port of Batumi for export and local refining. Gas is supplied in
pipelines from Krasnodar and Stavropol'. Georgia is nearly self-sufficient
in electric power, thanks to abundant hydropower stations as well as some
thermal power stations. The dismantling of central economic controls is
being delayed by political factionalism, marked by armed struggles between
the elected government and the opposition, and industrial output seems to
have fallen more steeply in Georgia in 1991 than in any other of the former
Soviet republics. To prevent further economic decline, Georgia must
establish domestic peace and must maintain economic ties to the other former
Soviet republics while developing new links to the West.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - $NA; per capita $NA; real growth rate - 23%
(1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
approximately 90% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
million (1991)
Exports:
$176 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
citrus fruits, tea, other agricultural products; diverse types of machinery;
ferrous and nonferrous metals; textiles
partners:
NA
Imports:
$1.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
machinery and parts, fuel, transport equipment, textiles
partners:
NA
External debt:
$650 million (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate - 19% (1991)
Electricity:
4,575,000 kW capacity; 15,300 million kWh produced, about 2,600 kWh per
capita (1991)
Industries:
Heavy industrial products include raw steel, rolled steel, cement, lumber;
machine tools, foundry equipment, electric mining locomotives, tower cranes,
electric welding equipment, machinery for food preparation, meat packing,
dairy, and fishing industries; ai