to prop up its
Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight controls on
production and prices. Faced with high rates of inflation, however,
the government began to reform in mid-1994, by introducing tighter
monetary policies, expanding privatization, slightly reducing the
role of the state in the economy, and improving the environment for
foreign investors. Nevertheless, the state continues to be a
dominating influence in the economy, and reforms have so far failed
to bring about much-needed structural changes. The IMF suspended
Uzbekistan's $185 million standby arrangement in late 1996 because
of governmental steps that made impossible fulfillment of Fund
conditions. Uzbekistan has responded to the negative external
conditions generated by the Asian and Russian financial crises by
tightening export and currency controls within its already largely
closed economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$59.2 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 1% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$2,500 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 26%
industry: 27%
services: 47% (1996 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 40% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 11.9 million (1998 est.)

Labor force--by occupation: agriculture and forestry 44%, industry
20%, services 36% (1995)

Unemployment rate: 5% plus another 10% underemployed (December
1996 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $4.4 billion
expenditures: $4.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.1
billion (1997 est.)

Industries: textiles, food processing, machine building,
metallurgy, natural gas

Industrial production growth rate: 5% (1998)

Electricity--production: 47.9 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 84.18%
hydro: 15.82%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 43.885 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 5.6 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 6.5 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain; livestock

Exports: $3.8 billion (1998)

Exports--commodities: cotton, gold, natural gas, mineral
fertilizers, ferrous metals, textiles, food products, autos

Exports--partners: Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Western Europe

Imports: $4.1 billion (1998