W. PATTERSON
embassy: Final Boulevard Santa Elena, Antiguo Cuscatlan, San Salvador
mailing address: Unit 3116, APO AA 34023
telephone: 278-4444
FAX: 278-6011

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white,
and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band;
the coat of arms features a round emblem encircled by the words
REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL; similar to the flag of
Nicaragua, which has a different coat of arms centered in the white
band - it features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE
NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; also similar to
the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X
pattern centered in the white band

@El Salvador:Economy

Economy - overview: El Salvador is a poor Central American economy
which has been suffering from a weak tax collection system, factory
closings, the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, and weak world coffee
prices. On the bright side, in recent years inflation has fallen to
single digit levels, and total exports have grown substantially. The
substantial trade deficit has been offset by remittances from the
large number of Salvadorans living abroad and from external aid.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $18.1 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.2% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,100 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 12%
industry: 22%
services: 66% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 48% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 38.3% (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 2.35 million (1999)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 30%, industry 15%, services
55% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 7.7% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.5 billion
expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1999)

Industries: food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals,
fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals

Industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 4.1 billion kWh (1999 est.)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 49.32%
hydro: 36.46%
nuclear: 0%
other: 14.22% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 4.17 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 30 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 65 million kWh (1999)

Agriculture - produc