| Commodity | Units | 1960 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
| Electric power | million kilowatt-hours | 194 | 288 | 322 | 433 | 589 | 712 | n.a. |
| Crude oil | thousand metric tons | 728 | 764 | 822 | 887 | 984 | 1,137 | 1,310 |
| Petroleum products | thousand metric tons | 369 | 476 | 509 | 590 | 692 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Coal | thousand metric tons | 291 | 292 | 331 | 393 | 434 | 491 | n.a. |
| Chrome ore | thousand metric tons | 289 | 307 | 311 | 302 | 327 | 369 | n.a. |
| Copper ore | thousand metric tons | 82 | 145 | 219 | 228 | 267 | 304 | 326 |
| Blister copper | thousand metric tons | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Iron-nickel ore | thousand metric tons | 255 | 351 | 395 | 395 | 403 | 440 | n.a. |
| Cement | thousand metric tons | 73 | 127 | 134 | 139 | 221 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Bricks | million units | 130 | 121 | 1112 | 106 | 139 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Ginned cotton | thousand metric tons | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Textiles | million yards | 28 | 33 | 33 | 37 | 44 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Cotton | million yards | 27 | 31 | - | - | - | n.a. | n.a. |
| Knitwear | million units | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Leather | thousand square yards | 109 | 126 | 124 | 161 | 158 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Footwear (other than rubber) | thousand pairs | 1,365 | 1,835 | 2,103 | 2,259 | 2,103 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Shoes and sandals | thousand pairs | 831 | 955 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| Rubber boots | thousand pairs | 155 | 201 | 191 | 211 | 248 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Flour | thousand metric tons | 125 | 145 | 152 | 1661 | 157 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Cigarettes | million units | 3,436 | 3,990 | 4,390 | 3,310 | 3,620 | n.a. | n.a. |
| n.a.—not available. | ||||||||
Electric power production is reported to have attained in 1968 the level planned for 1970. Output of power rose from 194 million kilowatt-hours in 1960 to 324 million kilowatt-hours in 1965 and almost 800,000 million kilowatt-hours in 1969. The distribution system has also been rapidly extended and in 1969 included about 800 miles of high-tension transmission lines of 35 and 110 kilovolts. Distribution and use of electric power were reported to be very wasteful, with losses as high as 115 million kilowatt-hours in 1969—almost 15 percent of total output. Information on the pattern of electric power consumption has not been published.
FINANCE
Financial operations have been shrouded in secrecy, and little information can be gleaned from the limited published data. These data, nevertheless, reflect some of the leadership's basic economic policies, such as its emphasis on rapidly increasing production while restraining a rise in consumption, its preference for industrial development as against agricultural growth, and its drive to mobilize domestic resources for economic development.
The Budget
Information on budgetary practices is not available, and statistics relating to the budget are incomplete. The relation between three different budgets approved annually by the People's Assembly on recommendation of the Council of Ministers is therefore unclear. There is a state and a national budget and a budget for local government. The budget for local government has been growing slowly in relation to the state-budget—from 16 percent in 1955 to 17 percent in 1960 and 20 percent in 1969 and 1970.
Only about one-fourth of local budgetary revenue is derived from local taxation, which implies a substantial subsidy from the central government budget. The amount of this subsidy is roughly double the usual 7- to 8-percent difference between the state and the smaller national budget. A surmise that the state budget represents an overall budget and that the national budget serves to finance central government activities only is therefore not warranted.
Except for a slight decline in revenues in 1961 and 1963, coincident with the country's political and economic break with the Soviet Union, the annual state budget has been rising steadily to a level of 5.21 billion leks (5 leks equal US$1—see Glossary) in revenues and 5.11 billion leks in expenditures for 1970. By comparison with the budget for 1960, revenues increased by 85 percent and expenditures by 102 percent, with a corresponding decline of 65 percent in the budgetary surplus. On a five-year basis, comparing the Fourth Five-Year Plan with the Third Five-Year Plan, both revenues and expenditures rose by about 40 percent, with a slightly higher increase in revenues.
A relatively greater stringency of funds for budgetary purposes after the break with the Soviet Union is reflected in the planned annual budgetary surplus, a permanent feature since 1946 and a matter of great pride for the leadership. From a level of almost 24 percent in 1950, 15 percent in 1955, and 10 percent in 1960, the surplus dropped to 1.1 percent in 1962 and 1.5 percent in 1963. Despite a slight recovery in subsequent years, except for 1968 when it declined to only 1 percent of revenues, the planned surplus did not again approach its earlier size.
Partial information on sources of revenue is available to 1967. Published statistics listed a turnover tax on all goods produced, deductions from enterprise profits, direct taxes on the population (primarily income taxes), and social insurance premiums. These sources yielded, on an average, 60 percent of the total revenue in the 1960-65 period, and their share rose steeply to 74 percent in 1967. The balance of the revenue, omitted from official statistics, consisted primarily of income from agriculture in the form of compulsory deliveries, proceeds from state farm operations, payments to machine-tractor stations, and taxes.