almost entirely in private hands. The economic situation in recent
years has been marked by rapid growth coupled with partial success
in implementing structural reform measures. Inflation declined to
70% in 1998, down from 99% in 1997, but the public sector fiscal
deficit probably remained near 10% of GDP--due in large part to
interest payments which accounted for 42% of central government
spending in 1998. The government enacted a new tax law and speeded
up privatization in 1998 but made no progress on badly needed social
security reform. Ankara is trying to increase trade with other
countries in the region yet most of Turkey's trade is still with
OECD countries. Despite the implementation in January 1996 of a
customs union with the EU, foreign direct investment in the country
remains low--about $1 billion annually--perhaps because potential
investors are concerned about still-high inflation and the unsettled
political situation. Economic growth will remain about the same in
1999; inflation should decline further.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$425.4 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 2.8% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$6,600 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 14.4%
industry: 28.7%
services: 56.9% (1998)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 70% (1998)

Labor force: 22.7 million (April 1998)
note: about 1.5 million Turks work abroad (1994)

Labor force--by occupation: agriculture 42.5%, services 34.5%,
industry 23% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 10% (1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $44.4 billion
expenditures: $58.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.7
billion (1998)

Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal,
chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber,
paper

Industrial production growth rate: 4.1% (1998 est.)

Electricity--production: 103 billion kWh (1997)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 62.4%
hydro: 37.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0.5% (1997)

Electricity--consumption: 91.16 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 300 million kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 265 million kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar
beets, pulse, citrus; livestock

Exports: $31 bi