debt inherited from
previous governments. Progress also occurred on reducing bilateral
debt in November 1995 as Nicaragua reached an agreement with
Germany, reducing Nicaragua's $616 million debt to the former GDR by
80%. Debt reduction agreements with Paris Club creditors and
rescheduling with the US also took place. Unemployment remains a
pressing problem, however, with roughly half the country's
population unemployed or underemployed.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.1 billion (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate: 4.2% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $1,700 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.4% (1995 est.)

Labor force: 1.086 million
by occupation: services 43%, agriculture 44%, industry 13% (1986)

Unemployment rate: 20% substantial underemployment (1995 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $389 million
expenditures: $551 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1996 est.)

Industries: food processing, chemicals, metal products, textiles,
clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear

Industrial production growth rate: 1.4% (1994 est.)

Electricity:
capacity: 460,000 kW
production: 1.64 billion kWh (1994)
consumption per capita: 376 kWh (1993)

Agriculture: coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn,
cassava (tapioca), citrus, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy
products

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US

Exports: $525.5 million (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities: meat, coffee, cotton, sugar, seafood, gold, bananas
partners: US, Central America, Canada, Germany

Imports: $870 million (c.i.f., 1995 est.)
commodities: consumer goods, machinery and equipment, petroleum
products
partners: Central America, US, Venezuela, Japan

External debt: $11.7 billion (1994)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency: 1 gold cordoba (C$) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: gold cordobas (C$) per US$1 - 7.98 (December
1995), 6.72 (1994), 5.62 (1993), 5.00 (1992), 4.27 (1991)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Transportation
--------------

Railways:
total: 0 km
narrow gauge: 0 km 1.067-m gauge; note - part of the previous 376 km
system was closed and dismantled in 1993 and, in 1994, the remainder
was closed, the track and rolling stock being sold for scrap

Highways:
total: 26,000 km
paved: 4