t goes around the entire flag and
extends between the two panels

Economy
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Economic overview: Industry - dominated by the fast-growing
apparel industry - has surpassed agriculture as the main source of
export earnings. The economy has been plagued by high rates of
unemployment since the late 1970s. Economic growth accelerated in
1991-94 as domestic conditions began to improve and conditions for
foreign investment brightened. In 1995, however, the government's
emphasis on populist measures and its preoccupation with the
stepped-up Tamil insurgency have clouded Sri Lanka's economic
prospects and discouraged foreign investors. A further problem for
1996 is the need to curb government overspending.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $65.6 billion (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate: 5% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $3,600 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 24%
industry: 24%
services: 52% (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.4% (1994 est.)

Labor force: 6.1 million
by occupation: agriculture 45%, services 37%, industry 18% (1993
est.)

Unemployment rate: 13% (1994 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.7 billion
expenditures: $3.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $851
million (1995)

Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other
agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining,
textiles, tobacco

Industrial production growth rate: 9% (1994 est.)

Electricity:
capacity: 1,410,000 kW
production: 3.2 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 168 kWh (1993)

Agriculture: rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed, roots,
spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, meat

Exports: $3.2 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: garments and textiles, teas, diamonds, other gems,
petroleum products, rubber products, other agricultural products,
marine products, graphite
partners: US 34.7%, UK, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, France (1994)

Imports: $4.8 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
commodities: textiles and textile materials, machinery and
equipment, transport equipment, food, petroleum, building materials
partners: Japan, India, UK, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan,
Singapore, China (1994)

External debt: $8.8 billion (1994 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $423 million (1993)

Currency: 1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees (SLRes) per US$1 - 54.158