ELO;
Chancery at 2374 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
265-5525 or 5526; there is a Malagasy Consulate General in New York;
US--Ambassador Howard K. WALKER; Embassy at 14 and 16 Rue Rainitovo,
Antsahavola, Antananarivo (mailing address is B. P. 620, Antananarivo);
telephone 212-57, 209-56, 200-89, 207-18

Flag: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a vertical
white band of the same width on hoist side

- Economy
Overview: Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world.
During the period 1980-85 it had a population growth of 3% a year and
a - 0.4% GDP growth rate. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is
the mainstay of the economy, accounting for over 40% of GDP, employing about
85% of the labor force, and contributing more than 70% to export earnings.
Industry is confined to the processing of agricultural products and textile
manufacturing; in 1988 it contributed only 16% to GDP and employed 3% of the
labor force. Industrial development has been hampered by government policies
that have restricted imports of equipment and spare parts and put strict
controls on foreign-owned enterprises. In 1986 the government introduced a
five-year development plan that stresses self-sufficiency in food (mainly rice)
by 1990, increased production for exports, and reduced energy imports.

GDP: $1.7 billion, per capita $155; real growth rate 2.2% (1988)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 17.0% (1988)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $337 million; expenditures $245 million, including
capital expenditures of $163 million (1988)

Exports: $284 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--coffee 45%, vanilla 15%, cloves 11%, sugar, petroleum
products; partners--France, Japan, Italy, FRG, US

Imports: $319 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--intermediate manufactures 30%, capital goods 28%,
petroleum 15%, consumer goods 14%, food 13%; partners--France, FRG, UK,
other EC, US

External debt: $3.6 billion (1989)

Industrial production: growth rate - 3.9 % (1988)

Electricity: 119,000 kW capacity; 430 million kWh produced,
40 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: agricultural processing (meat canneries, soap factories,
brewery, tanneries, sugar refining), light consumer goods industries (textiles,
glassware), cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum

Agriculture: accounts for 40% of GDP; cash crops--coffee, vanilla,
sugarcane, cloves, cocoa; food crops--rice,