Flag description: same color scheme as Romania - three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; emblem in center of flag is of a Roman eagle of gold outlined in black with a red beak and talons carrying a yellow cross in its beak and a green olive branch in its right talons and a yellow scepter in its left talons; on its breast is a shield divided horizontally red over blue with a stylized ox head, star, rose, and crescent all in black-outlined yellow
Economy
Economy - overview: Moldova enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Moldova must import all of its supplies of oil, coal, and natural gas, largely from Russia. Energy shortages contributed to sharp production declines after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Moldovan Government has recently been making progress on an ambitious economic reform agenda, and the IMF has called Moldova a model for the region. As part of its reform efforts, Moldova introduced a stable convertible currency, freed all prices, stopped issuing preferential credits to state enterprises and backed their steady privatization, removed export controls, and freed interest rates. With the election of President LUCINSCHI in December 1996, it is unclear how rapidly the reforms will be pushed.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $10.8 billion (1996 estimate extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.5% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,400 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 48% industry: 28% services: 24% (1994)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 15% (1996 est.)
Labor force: total: 2.03 million (January 1994) by occupation: agriculture 39.5%, industry 12.0%, other 48.5% (1994)
Unemployment rate: 1.4% (includes only officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed workers) (January 1996)