ames BOLGER (since
29 October 1990); Deputy Prime Minister Donald McKINNON (since 2
November 1990)

_#_Political parties and leaders:
National Party (NP; government), James BOLGER;
New Zealand Labor Party (NZLP; opposition), Michael MOORE;
New Labor Party (NLP), Jim ANDERTON;
Democratic Party, Neil MORRISON;
Green Party, no official leader;
Socialist Unity Party (SUP; pro-Soviet), Kenneth DOUGLAS

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

_#_Elections:

House of Representatives--last held on 27 October 1990 (next to be
held October 1993);
results--NP 49%, LP 35%, Green Party 7%, New Labor 5%;
seats--(97 total) NP 67, LP 29, NLP 1

_#_Communists: SUP about 140, other groups, about 200

_#_Member of: ANZUS (US suspended security obligations to NZ on
11 August 1986), APEC, AsDB, C, CCC, CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, GATT, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, OECD, PCA,
SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Denis Bazely
Gordon McLEAN; Chancery at 37 Observatory Circle NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 328-4800; there are New Zealand Consulates General in Los
Angeles and New York;

US--Ambassador Della M. NEWMAN; Embassy at 29 Fitzherbert Terrace,
Thorndon, Wellington (mailing address is P. O. Box 1190, Wellington, or
FPO San Francisco 96690-0001); telephone [64] (4) 722-068; there is a US
Consulate General in Auckland

_#_Flag: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant
with four red five-pointed stars edged in white centered in the outer
half of the flag; the stars represent the Southern Cross constellation

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Since 1984 the government has been reorienting an
agrarian economy dependent on a guaranteed British market to an open
free market economy that can compete on the global scene. The government
has hoped that dynamic growth would boost real incomes, reduce
inflationary pressures, and permit the expansion of welfare benefits. The
results have been mixed: inflation is down from double-digit levels
but growth has been sluggish and unemployment, always a highly sensitive
issue, has been at a record high 7.4%. In 1988 GDP fell by 1%, in
1989 grew by a moderate 2.4%, and was flat in 1990.

_#_GDP: $40.2 billion, per capita $12,200; real growth rate 0.7%
(1990)

_#_Inflation rat