Debt - external:
$12.5 billion (2001 est.) country comparison to the world: 80
Exchange rates:
North Korean won (KPW) per US dollar - 140 (2007), 141 (2006), 170
(December 2004), market rate: North Korean won per US dollar - 3,400
(October 2008)
Communications ::Korea, North
Telephones - main lines in use:
1.18 million (2008) country comparison to the world: 71
Telephone system:
general assessment: inadequate system; currently mobile cellular telephone services are available in Pyongyang only
domestic: fiber-optic links installed between cities; telephone directories unavailable; mobile cellular service, initiated in 2002, suspended in 2004; Orascom Telecom, an Egyptian company, launched mobile service on December 15, 2008 for the Pyongyang area only