*Mozambique, Government
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Hipolito PATRICIO
chancery:
Suite 570, 1990 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone:
(202) 293-7146
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Townsend B. FRIEDMAN, Jr.
embassy:
Avenida Kenneth Kuanda, 193 Maputo
mailing address:
P. O. Box 783, Maputo
telephone:
[258] (1) 49-27-97, 49-01-67, 49-03-50
FAX:
[258] (1) 49-01-14
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of green (top), black, and yellow with a red
isosceles triangle based on the hoist side; the black band is edged in
white; centered in the triangle is a yellow five-pointed star bearing a
crossed rifle and hoe in black superimposed on an open white book
*Mozambique, Economy
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,
nevertheless, is at about 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. The continuation of civil
strife has dimmed chances of foreign investment, and growth was a mere 0.3%
in 1992. Living standards, already abysmally low, fell further in 1991-92.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $1.75 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
0.3% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$115 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
50% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
50% (1989 est.)
Budget:
revenues $252 million; expenditures $607 million, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
Exports:
$162 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
shrimp 48%, cashews 21%, sugar 10%, copra 3%, citrus 3%
partners:
US, Western Europe, Germany, Japan
Imports:
$899 million (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
commodities:
food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum
partners:
US, Western Europe, USSR
External debt:
$5.4 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 5% (1989 est.)
Electricity:
2,270,000 kW capacity; 1,745 million kWh produced, 115 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
food, beverages, chemicals (fertilizer, soap, paints), petroleum products,
textiles, nonmetallic mineral products (cement, glass, asbestos), tobacco
Agriculture:
accounts for 50% of GDP and about 90% of exports; cash crops - cotton,
cashew nuts, sugarcane, tea, shrimp; other crops - cassava, corn, rice,
tropical fruits; not self-sufficient in food
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $350 million; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $4.4 billion; OPEC
bilateral aid (1979-89), $37 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $890
million
Currency:
1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos
*Mozambique, Economy
Exchange rates:
meticais (Mt) per US$1 - 2,74.15 (January 1993), 2,433.34 (1992), 1,434.47
(1991), 929.00 (1990), 800.00 (1989), 528.60 (1988)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
*Mozambique, Communications
Railroads:
3,288 km total; 3,140 km 1.067-meter gauge; 148 km 0.762-meter narrow gauge;
Malawi-Nacala, Malawi-Beira, and Zimbabwe-Maputo lines are subject to
closure because of insurgency
Highways:
26,498 km total; 4,593 km paved; 829 km gravel, crushed stone, stabilized
soil; 21,076 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways:
about 3,750 km of navigable routes
Pipelines:
crude oil (not operating) 306 km; petroleum products 289 km
Ports:
Maputo, Beira, Nacala
Merchant marine:
4 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,686 GRT/9,742 DWT
Airports:
total:
194
usable:
131
with permanent-surface runways:
25
with runways over 3,659 m:
1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
4
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
26
Telecommunications:
fair system of troposcatter, open-wire lines, and radio relay; broadcast
stations - 29 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; earth stations - 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and
3 domestic Indian Ocean INTELSAT
*Mozambique, Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Naval Command, Air and Air Defense Forces, Militia
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 3,675,189; fit for military service 2,110,489 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $118 million, 8% of GDP (1993 est.)