Southeast Asia > Burma > Economy

View full size

Agriculture > products rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products
Current account balance	$1,427,000,000.00		[49th of 181]
Debt > External	$7,022,000,000.00		[85th of 136]
Economic freedom	0.8		[149th of 156]
Economy > Overview Burma, a resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive government controls, inefficient economic policies, and rural poverty. The junta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism," but those efforts stalled, and some of the liberalization measures were rescinded. Despite Burma's increasing oil and gas revenue, socio-economic conditions have deteriorated due to the regime's mismanagement of the economy. Lacking monetary or fiscal stability, the economy suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances - including rising inflation, fiscal deficits, multiple official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat, a distorted interest rate regime, unreliable statistics, and an inability to reconcile national accounts to determine a realistic GDP figure. Most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta began to suppress the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently refused to honor the results of the 1990 legislative elections. In response to the government of Burma's attack in May 2003 on AUNG SAN SUU KYI and her convoy, the US imposed new economic sanctions in August 2003 including a ban on imports of Burmese products and a ban on provision of financial services by US persons. Further, a poor investment climate hampers attracting outside investment slowing the inflow of foreign exchange. The most productive sectors will continue to be in extractive industries, especially oil and gas, mining, and timber with the latter especially causing environmental degradation. Other areas, such as manufacturing and services, are struggling with inadequate infrastructure, unpredictable import/export policies, deteriorating health and education systems, and endemic corruption. A major banking crisis in 2003 shuttered the country's 20 private banks and disrupted the economy. As of 2007, the largest private banks operated under tight restrictions limiting the private sector's access to formal credit. Moreover, the September 2007 crackdown on prodemocracy demonstrators, including thousands of monks, further strained the economy as the tourism industry, which directly employs about 500,000 people, suffered dramatic declines in foreign visitor levels. In November 2007, the European Union announced new sanctions banning investment and trade in Burmese gems, timber and precious stones, while the United States expanded its sanctions list to include more Burmese government and military officials and their family members, as well as prominent regime business cronies, their family members, and associated companies. Official statistics are inaccurate. Published statistics on foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and unofficial border trade - often estimated to be as large as the official economy. Though the Burmese government has good economic relations with its neighbors, better investment and business climates and an improved political situation are needed to promote serious foreign investment, exports, and tourism.
Exchange rates kyats per US dollar - 5.7459 (2004), 6.0764 (2003), 6.5734 (2002), 6.6841 (2001), 6.4257 (2000)
Exports	$6,122,000,000.00		[93rd of 189]
Exports to US	$99,800,000.00		[87th of 224]
GDP	$74,530,000,000.00		[49th of 203]
GDP (purchasing power parity)	$91,130,000,000.00		[67th of 187]
GDP > Real growth rate	3.8%		[130th of 198]
GDP growth > annual %	5 annual %		[80th of 187]
GDP per capita in 1900	$647.00		[37th of 39]
GDP per capita in 1950	$393.00		[54th of 52]
GDP per capita in 1973	$589.00		[53rd of 52]
Gross national income > constant LCU	68980290000
Human Development Index	0.578		[130th of 178]
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	35%		[2nd of 192]
Population below poverty line	32.7%		[7th of 46]
Tourist arrivals	189,000		[103rd of 152]

Related links:

• Forum discussion > Economy
• Looking for Information on the U.S. Economy? Check out StateMaster
• Stay updated with current stat feeds! Subscribe to the Economy RSS / Atom feeds
•  Subscribe to our popular Economy factoids RSS / Atom feeds
• Save this page on  del.icio.us / furl / your bookmarks

More facts and figures on Burma