SHAIKH; Chancery
at 2315 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
939-6200; there is a Pakistani Consulate General in New York;
US--Ambassador Robert B. OAKLEY; Embassy at Diplomatic Enclave,
Ramna 5, Islamabad (mailing address is P. O. Box 1048,
Islamabad or APO New York 09614); telephone [92] (51) 826161
through 79; there are US Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, and a
Consulate in Peshawar
_#_Flag: green with a vertical white band on the hoist side; a large
white crescent and star are centered in the green field; the crescent,
star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Pakistan is a poor Third World country faced with the
usual problems of rapidly increasing population, sizable government
deficits, and heavy dependence on foreign aid. In addition, the economy
must support a large military establishment and provide for the needs of
4 million Afghan refugees. A real economic growth rate averaging 5-6% in
recent years has enabled the country to cope with these problems. Almost
all agriculture and small-scale industry is in private hands, and the
government seeks to privatize a portion of the large-scale industrial
enterprises now publicly owned. In December 1988, Pakistan signed a
three-year economic reform agreement with the IMF, which provides for a
reduction in the government deficit and a liberalization of trade in
return for further IMF financial support. Late in 1990, the IMF
suspended assistance to Pakistan because the government failed to
follow through on deficit reforms. Pakistan almost certainly will make
little headway on raising living standards for its rapidly expanding
population; at the current rate of growth, population would double in
29 years.
_#_GNP: $43.3 billion, per capita $380; real growth rate 5.0%
(FY90 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.7% (FY90)
_#_Unemployment rate: 10% (FY91 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $5.6 billion; expenditures $10.2 billion,
including capital expenditures of $2.7 billion (FY91 est.)
_#_Exports: $4.8 billion (f.o.b., FY90);
commodities--rice, cotton, textiles, clothing;
partners--EC 31%, Japan 11.6%, US 11.5% (FY89)
_#_Imports: $6.5 billion (f.o.b., FY90);
commodities--petroleum, petroleum products, machinery,
transportation equipment, vegetable oils, animal fats, chemicals;
partners--EC 26%, US 16%, Japan 14% (FY89)
_#_External debt: $20.1 billion (1
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