ernment
has promised to continue its economic reforms to help the Philippines
match the pace of development in the newly industrialized countries of
East Asia. The strategy includes improving infrastructure, overhauling
the tax system to bolster government revenues, and moving toward
further deregulation and privatization of the economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$244 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 5.1% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$3,200 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 22%
industry: 32%
services: 46% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 5.1% (1997)

Labor force:
total: 29.13 million (1996 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 43.4%, services 22.6%, government services
17.9%, industry and commerce 16.1% (1995)

Unemployment rate: 8.7% (1997)

Budget:
revenues: $16.3 billion
expenditures: $16.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.7
billion (1996 est.)

Industries: textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food
processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining, fishing

Industrial production growth rate: 6.3% (1996)

Electricity-capacity: 7.64 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 25.65 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 350 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: rice, coconuts, corn, sugarcane, bananas,
pineapples, mangoes; pork, eggs, beef; fish catch of 2 million metric
tons annually

Exports:
total value: $25 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: electronics and telecommunications 51%, machinery and
transport 10%, garments 9%, other 30%
partners: US 34%, Japan 17%, EU 17%, ASEAN 14%, Hong Kong 4%, Taiwan
4% (1997 est.)

Imports:
total value: $34 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: raw materials and intermediate goods 43%, capital goods
36%, consumer goods 9%, fuels 9%
partners: Japan 21%, US 20%, ASEAN 12%, EU 10%, Taiwan 5%, Hong Kong
4%, Saudi Arabia 4% (1997 est.)

Debt-external: $45.4 billion (December 1997)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $3 billion pledged at December 1997 for 1998

Currency: 1 Philippine peso (P) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: Philippine pesos (P) per US$1-40.2 (April 1998), 26.36
(May 1997), 29.471 (1997), 26.216 (1996), 25.714 (1995), 26.417
(1994), 27.120 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 1.9 million (1997)

Telephone system: good international radiotelephone and submarine
cable services; domestic and