Economy
Economic overview:
One of Africa's poorest countries, Mozambique has failed to exploit the economic potential of its sizable agricultural, hydropower, and transportation resources. Indeed, national output, consumption, and investment declined throughout the first half of the 1980s because of internal disorders, lack of government administrative control, and a growing foreign debt. A sharp increase in foreign aid, attracted by an economic reform policy, resulted in successive years of economic growth in the late 1980s, but aid has declined steadily since 1989. Agricultural output is at only 75% of its 1981 level, and grain has to be imported. Industry operates at only 20%-40% of capacity. The economy depends heavily on foreign assistance to keep afloat. Peace accords between civil warring factions, signed in October 1992, improved chances of foreign investment, aided IMF-supported economic reforms, and supported continued economic recovery. Elections held in 1994 diverted government attention from the economy, resulting in slippage and delays in the economic reform program. Nonetheless, growth continued in 1994-95, and the economy should move forward in the late 1990s, given continued foreign help in meeting debt obligations. One key event in 1995 was the conclusion of negotiations with Enron of Houston, Texas, for a $700 million project to exploit the Pande natural gas fields.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $12.2 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate:
-2.5% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita:
$700 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector:
agriculture:
33%
industry:
12%
services:
55% (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
50% (1994 est.)
Labor force:
NA
by occupation:
90% engaged in agriculture
Unemployment rate:
50% (1989 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$252 million
expenditures:
$607 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
Industries:
food, beverages, chemicals (fertilizer, soap, paints), petroleum products, textiles, cement, glass, asbestos, tobacco
Industrial production growth rate:
5.8% (1993 est.)
Electricity:
capacity:
2,360,000 kW
production:
1.7 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
58 kWh (1993)
Agriculture:
cotton, cashew nuts, sugarcane, tea, cassava (tapioca), corn, rice, tropical fruits; beef, poultry
Exports:
$170 million (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities:
shrimp 40%, cashews, cotton, sugar, copra, citrus
partners:
Spain, South Africa, US, Portugal, Japan
Imports:
$1.14 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
commodities:
food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum
partners:
South Africa, UK, France, Japan, Portugal
External debt:
$5 billion (1992 est.)
Economic aid:
recipient:
ODA, $NA
Currency:
1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
meticais (Mt) per US$1 - 10,908.0 (December 1995), 9,024.3 (1995), 6,038.6 (1994), 3,874.2 (1993), 2,516.5 (1992), 1,434.5 (1991)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
