US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Thomas W. SIMONS, Jr. embassy:
Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31, Warsaw
mailing address:
American Embassy Warsaw, Box 5010, Unit 25402, or APO AE 09213-5010
telephone:
[48] (2) 628-3041
FAX:
[48] (2) 628-8298
consulates general:
Krakow, Poznan
Flag:
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flags of
Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white
*Poland, Economy
Overview:
Poland is undergoing a difficult transition from a Soviet-style economy -
with state ownership and control of productive assets - to a market economy.
On January 1, 1990, the new Solidarity-led government implemented shock
therapy by slashing subsidies, decontrolling prices, tightening the money
supply, stabilizing the foreign exchange rate, lowering import barriers, and
restraining state sector wages. As a result, consumer goods shortages and
lines disappeared, and inflation fell from 640% in 1989 to 44% in 1992.
Western governments, which hold two-thirds of Poland's $48 billion external
debt, pledged in 1991 to forgive half of Poland's official debt by 1994. The
private sector accounted for 29% of industrial production and nearly half of
nonagricultural output in 1992. Production fell in state enterprises,
however, and the unemployment rate climbed steadily from virtually nothing
in 1989 to 13.6% in December 1992. Poland fell out of compliance with its
IMF program by mid-1991, and talks with commercial creditors stalled. The
increase in unemployment and the decline in living standards led to strikes
in the coal, auto, copper, and railway sectors in 1992. Large state
enterprises in the coal, steel, and defense sectors plan to halve employment
over the next decade, and the government expects unemployment to reach 3
million (16%) in 1993. A shortfall in tax revenues caused the budget deficit
to reach 6% of GDP in 1992, but industrial production began a slow, uneven
upturn. In 1993, the government will struggle to win legislative approval
for faster privatization and to keep the budget deficit within IMF-approved
limits.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $167.6 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
2% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$4,400 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
44% (1992)
Unemployment rate:
13.6% (December 1992)
Budget:
revenues $17.5 billion; expenditures $22.0 billion, including capital
expenditures of $1.5 billion (1992 est.)
Exports: $12.8 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities:
machinery 22%, metals 16%, chemicals 12%, fuels and power 11%, food 10%
(1991)
partners:
Germany 28.0%, former USSR 11.7%, UK 8.8%, Switzerland 5.5% (1991)
Imports:
$12.9 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities:
machinery 38%, fuels and power 20%, chemicals 13%, food 10%, light industry
6% (1991)
partners:
Germany 17.4%, former USSR 25.6%, Italy 5.3%, Austria 5.2% (1991)
External debt:
$48.5 billion (January 1992); note - Poland's Western government creditors
promised in 1991 to forgive 30% of Warsaw's official debt - currently $33
billion - immediately and to forgive another 20% in 1994, if Poland adheres
to its IMF program
Industrial production:
growth rate 3.5% (1992)
*Poland, Economy
Electricity:
31,530,000 kW capacity; 137,000 million kWh produced, 3,570 kWh per capita
(1992)
Industries:
machine building, iron and steel, extractive industries, chemicals,
shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles
Agriculture:
accounts for 15% of GDP and 27% of labor force; 75% of output from private
farms, 25% from state farms; productivity remains low by European standards;
leading European producer of rye, rapeseed, and potatoes; wide variety of
other crops and livestock; major exporter of pork products; normally
self-sufficient in food
Illicit drugs:
illicit producers of opium for domestic consumption and amphetamines for the
international market; emerging as a transshipment point for illicit drugs to
Western Europe
Economic aid:
donor - bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries, $2.2
billion (1954-89); the G-24 has pledged $8 billion in grants and credit
guarantees to Poland
Currency:
1 zloty (Zl) = 100 groszy
Exchange rates:
zlotych (Zl) per US$1 - 15,879 (January 1993), 13,626 (1992), 10,576 (1991),
9,500 (1990), 1,439.18 (1989), 430.55 (1988)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
*Poland, Communications
Railroads:
26,250 km total; 23,857 km 1.435-meter gauge, 397 km 1.520-meter gauge,
1,996 km narrow gauge; 8,987 km double track; 11,510 km electrified;
government owned (1991)
Highways:
360,629 km total (excluding farm, factory and forest roads); 220 km limited
access expressways, 45,257 km main highways, 128,775 km regional roads,
186,377 urban or village roads (local traffic); 220,000 km are paved
(including all main and regional highways) (1988)
Inland waterways:
3,997 km navigable rivers and canals (1991)
Pipelines:
natural gas 4,600 km, crude oil 1,986 km, petroleum products 360 km (1992)
Ports:
Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Swinoujscie; principal inland ports are Gliwice on
Kana Gliwice, Wrocaw on the Oder, and Warsaw on the Vistula
Merchant marine:
209 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,747,631 GRT/3,992,053 DWT; includes
5 short-sea passenger, 76 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 11 roll-on/roll-off
cargo, 9 container, 1 oil tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 101 bulk, 1 passenger;
Poland owns 1 ship of 6,333 DWT operating under Liberian registry
Airports:
total:
163
usable:
163
with permanent-surface runways:
100
with runway over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
51
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
95
Telecommunications:
severely underdeveloped and outmoded system; cable, open wire and microwave;
phone density is 10.5 phones per 100 residents (October 1990); 3.6 million
telephone subscribers; exchanges are 86% automatic (1991); broadcast
stations - 27 AM, 27 FM, 40 (5 Soviet repeaters) TV; 9.6 million TVs; 1
satellite earth station using INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, INMARSAT and Intersputnik
*Poland, Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Force
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 9,914,128; fit for military service 7,774,499; reach
military age (19) annually 304,956 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
30.8 trillion zlotych, 1.8% of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense
expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce
misleading results
*Portugal, Geography