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*Serbia and Montenegro, Economy

Overview:
The swift collapse of the Yugoslav federation has been followed by bloody
ethnic warfare, the destabilization of republic boundaries, and the breakup
of important interrepublic trade flows. The situation in Serbia and
Montenegro remains fluid in view of the extensive political and military
strife. Serbia and Montenegro faces major economic problems. First, like the
other former Yugoslav republics, it depended on its sister republics for
large amounts of foodstuffs, energy supplies, and manufactures. Wide
varieties in climate, mineral resources, and levels of technology among the
republics accentuate this interdependence, as did the Communist practice of
concentrating much industrial output in a small number of giant plants. The
breakup of many of the trade links, the sharp drop in output as industrial
plants lost suppliers and markets, and the destruction of physical assets in
the fighting all have contributed to the economic difficulties of the
republics. One singular factor in the economic situation of Serbia and
Montenegro is the continuation in office of a Communist government that is
primarily interested in political and military mastery, not economic reform.
A further complication is the imposition of economic sanctions by the UN.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $27-37 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
NA%
National product per capita:
$2,500-$3,500 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
81% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
25%-40% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$4.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
machinery and transport equipment 29%, manufactured goods 28.5%,
miscellaneous manufactured articles 13.5%, chemicals 11%, food and live
animals 9%, raw materials 6%, fuels and lubricants 2%, beverages and tobacco
1%
partners:
prior to the imposition of sanctions by the UN Security Council trade
partners were principally the other former Yugoslav republics; Italy,
Germany, other EC, the successor states of the former USSR, East European
countries, US
Imports:
$6.4 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
machinery and transport equipment 26%, fuels and lubricants 18%,
manufactured g