Exports: total value: $25.4 billion (f.o.b., 1997) commodities: meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, manufactures, fuels partners: Brazil 26.1%, US 8.5%, Chile 7.0%, Netherlands 5.7%, Italy 3.5% (1995)

Imports: total value: $30.3 billion (c.i.f., 1997) commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, transport equipment, agricultural products partners: Brazil 20.8%, US 20.7%, Italy 6.3%, Germany 6.2%, France 5.2% (1995)

Debt-external: $115 billion (1997 est.)

Economic aid: $NA

Currency: 1 nuevo peso argentino = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: pesos per US$1-0.99950 (January 1998), 0.99950 (1997), 0.99966 (1996), 0.99975 (1995), 0.99901 (1994), 0.99895 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 4.6 million (1990)

Telephone system: 12,000 public telephones; extensive modern system but many families do not have telephones; despite extensive use of microwave radio relay, the telephone system frequently grounds out during rainstorms, even in Buenos Aires domestic: microwave radio relay and a domestic satellite system with 40 earth stations serve the trunk network international: satellite earth stations-2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)