Overview:
Growth in the lackluster Bulgarian economy fell to the 2% annual level in
the 1980s. By 1990, Sofia's foreign debt had skyrocketed to over $10 billion
- giving a debt-service ratio of more than 40% of hard currency earnings and
leading the regime to declare a moratorium on its hard currency payments.
The post-Communist government faces major problems of renovating an aging
industrial plant; coping with worsening energy, food, and consumer goods
shortages; keeping abreast of rapidly unfolding technological developments;
investing in additional energy capacity (the portion of electric power from
nuclear energy reached over one-third in 1990); and motivating workers, in
part by giving them a share in the earnings of their enterprises. Bulgaria's
new government, led by Prime Minister Filip Dimitrov, is strongly committed
to economic reform. The previous government, even though dominated by former
Communists, had taken the first steps toward dismantling the central
planning system, bringing the economy back into balance, and reducing
inflationary pressures. The program produced some encouraging early results,
including eased restrictions on foreign investment, increased support from
international financial institutions, and liberalized currency trading.
Small entrepreneurs have begun to emerge and some privatization of small
enterprises has taken place. The government has passed bills to privatize
large state-owned enterprises and reform the banking system. Negotiations on
an association agreement with the EC began in late 1991.
GNP:
purchasing power equivalent - $36.4 billion, per capita $4,100; real growth
rate —22% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
420% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
10% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues NA; expenditures NA, including capital expenditures of $NA billion
(1991)
Exports:
$8.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
machinery and equipment 55.3%; agricultural products 15.0%; manufactured
consumer goods 10.0%; fuels, minerals, raw materials, and metals 18.4%;
other 1.3% (1990)
partners:
former CMEA countries 70.6% (USSR 56.2%, Czechoslovakia 3.9%, Poland 2.5%);
developed countries 13.6% (Germany 2.1%, Greece 1.2%); less developed
countries 13.1% (Libya 5.8%, Iran 0.5%) (1990)
Imports:
$9.6 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
fuels, minerals, and raw materials 43.7%; machinery and equipment 45.2%;
manufactured consumer goods 6.7%; agricultural products 3.8%; other 0.6%
partners:
former CMEA countries 70.9% (former USSR 52.7%, Poland 4.1%); developed
countries 20.2% (Germany 5.0%, Austria 2.1%); less developed countries 7.2%
(Libya 2.0%, Iran 0.7%)
External debt:
$11.2 billion (1991)
Industrial production:
growth rate —14.7% (1990); accounts for about 37% of GNP (1990)
Electricity:
11,500,000 kW capacity; 45,000 million kWh produced, 5,040 kWh per capita
(1990)
:Bulgaria Economy
Industries:
machine building and metal working, food processing, chemicals, textiles,
building materials, ferrous and nonferrous metals
Agriculture:
accounts for 22% of GNP (1990); climate and soil conditions support
livestock raising and the growing of various grain crops, oilseeds,
vegetables, fruits, and tobacco; more than one-third of the arable land
devoted to grain; world's fourth-largest tobacco exporter; surplus food
producer
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route
Economic aid:
donor - $1.6 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed
countries (1956-89)
Currency:
lev (plural - leva); 1 lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki
Exchange rates:
leva (Lv) per US$1 - 17.18 (1 January 1992), 16.13 (March 1991), 0.7446
(November 1990), 0.84 (1989), 0.82 (1988), 0.90 (1987); note - floating
exchange rate since February 1991
Fiscal year:
calendar year
:Bulgaria Communications
Railroads:
4,300 km total, all government owned (1987); 4,055 km 1.435-meter standard
gauge, 245 km narrow gauge; 917 km double track; 2,510 km electrified
Highways:
36,908 km total; 33,535 km hard surface (including 242 km superhighways);
3,373 km earth roads (1987)
Inland waterways:
470 km (1987)
Pipelines:
crude oil 193 km; petroleum products 418 km; natural gas 1,400 km (1986)
Ports:
Burgas, Varna, Varna West; river ports are Ruse, Vidin, and Lom on the
Danube
Merchant marine:
110 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 1,234,657 GRT/1,847,759 DWT;
includes 2 short-sea passenger, 30 cargo, 2 container, 1 passenger-cargo
training, 6 roll-on/roll-off, 15 petroleum tanker, 4 chemical carrier, 2
railcar carrier, 48 bulk; Bulgaria owns 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
8,717 DWT operating under Liberian registry
Civil air:
86 major transport aircraft
Airports:
380 total, 380 usable; about 120 with permanent-surface runways; 20 with
runways 2,440-3,659 m; 20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
extensive radio relay; 2.5 million telephones; direct dialing to 36
countries; phone density is 25 phones per 100 persons; 67% of Sofia
households now have a phone (November 1988); broadcast stations - 20 AM, 15
FM, and 29 TV, with 1 Soviet TV repeater in Sofia; 2.1 million TV sets
(1990); 92% of country receives No. 1 television program (May 1990); 1
satellite ground station using Intersputnik; INTELSAT is used through a
Greek earth station
:Bulgaria Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Frontier Troops, Internal Troops
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 2,181,421; 1,823,678 fit for military service; 65,942 reach
military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - 4.413 billion leva, 4.4% of GNP (1991); note -
conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current
exchange rate could produce misleading results
:Burkina Geography
Total area:
274,200 km2
Land area:
273,800 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than Colorado
Land boundaries:
3,192 km; Benin 306 km, Ghana 548 km, Ivory Coast 584 km, Mali 1,000 km,
Niger 628 km, Togo 126 km
Coastline:
none - landlocked
Maritime claims:
none - landlocked
Disputes:
the disputed international boundary between Burkina and Mali was submitted
to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in October 1983 and the ICJ
issued its final ruling in December 1986, which both sides agreed to accept;
Burkina and Mali are proceeding with boundary demarcation, including the
tripoint with Niger
Climate:
tropical; warm, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Terrain:
mostly flat to dissected, undulating plains; hills in west and southeast
Natural resources:
manganese, limestone, marble; small deposits of gold, antimony, copper,
nickel, bauxite, lead, phosphates, zinc, silver
Land use:
arable land 10%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 37%; forest and
woodland 26%; other 27%, includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
recent droughts and desertification severely affecting marginal agricultural
activities, population distribution, economy; overgrazing; deforestation
Note:
landlocked
:Burkina People