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Hungary ECONOMY
Gross National Product: Estimated at US$84
billion in
1986; US$7,910 per capita, with 1.3 percent growth rate.
Energy and Mining: Country energy deficient;
relies on
imported crude oil and natural gas from Soviet Union and
domestic
lignite. Coal reserves plentiful, but energy a major
problem for
the 1990s. Dependent on imports for iron and nonferrous
metals.
Industry: Manufacturing and chemicals
predominate, with
light industry and food processing also important.
Emphasis on
heavy industry in postwar period.
Agriculture: Largely collectivized, but with
decentralized, loose restrictions on self-financing, much
emphasis on private-plot production, and no obligatory
targets.
Very efficient by East European standards; net exporter of
grain,
meat, and meat products.
Foreign Trade: Most important trading partner
Soviet
Union, but about half of foreign trade with Western
countries.
Principal imports fuels, raw materials and semifinished
products,
agricultural and forestry products, light industrial
goods.
Principal exports agricultural products, pharmaceuticals,
bauxite, machine tools, and lighting equipment. Balance of
trade
negative in 1986: exports US$9.2 billion; imports US$9.6
billion.
Exchange Rate: Exchange rate in July 1989 about
sixtytwo forints per US$1.
Fiscal Year: Calendar year.
Fiscal Policy: Central planning with market
reforms in
the late 1980s to decentralize economic decision making
and
broaden scope for private ownership.
Data as of September 1989
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