government ownership and control of productive facilities.
The economy is primarily agricultural; the sector employs about 65% of
the labor force and accounts for almost half of GNP. Rice is the staple
crop; substantial amounts of maize, sorghum, cassava, and sweet potatoes
are also grown. The government permits sale of surplus grain on the open
market. Most of the mineral resources are located in the north,
including coal, which is an important export item. Oil was discovered
off the southern coast in 1986 with production reaching 54,000 b/d in
1990 and expected to increase in the years ahead. Following the
end of the war in 1975, heavy-handed government measures undermined
efforts at an efficient merger of the agricultural resources of the
south and the industrial resources of the north. The economy remains
heavily dependent on foreign aid and has received assistance from
Communist countries, Sweden, and UN agencies. Inflation, although down
from recent triple-digit levels, is still a major weakness and is
showing signs of accelerating upwards again. Per capita output is among
the world's lowest. Since late 1986 the government has sponsored a
broad reform program that seeks to turn more economic activity over to
the private sector.

_#_GNP: $15.2 billion, per capita $230; real growth rate 2.4%
(1990 est.)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 65% (1990 est.)

_#_Unemployment rate: 33% (1990 est.)

_#_Budget: revenues $892 million; expenditures $1.3 billion, including
capital expenditures of $344 million (1990 est.)

_#_Exports: $2.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);

commodities--agricultural and handicraft products, coal, minerals,
crude petroleum, ores, seafood;

partners--USSR, Eastern Europe, Japan, Singapore

_#_Imports: $2.6 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);

commodities--petroleum products, steel products, railroad
equipment, chemicals, medicines, raw cotton, fertilizer, grain;

partners--USSR, Eastern Europe, Japan, Singapore

_#_External debt: $16.8 billion (1990 est.)

_#_Industrial production: growth rate 10% (1989); accounts for 30%
of GNP

_#_Electricity: 2,740,000 kW capacity; 7,500 million kWh produced,
110 kWh per capita (1990)

_#_Industries: food processing, textiles, machine building, mining,
cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, fishing

_#_Agriculture: accounts for half of GNP; paddy rice, corn, potatoes
make up 50% of farm output; commercial crops (rubber,