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Madagascar ECONOMY
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Estimated at
US$10.4
billion in 1993. Economic growth rate 1 percent in 1992.
Gross National Product (GNP) per Capita: US$210
in
1991; rated tenth poorest country in world by World Bank.
Agriculture: Constituted 33 percent of GDP in
1993,
provided almost 80 percent of exports, and in 1992
employed
almost 80 percent of labor force; l6 percent of cultivated
land
is irrigated. Major crops: coffee, vanilla, sugarcane,
cloves,
cocoa, rice, cassava, bananas, peanuts; widespread cattle
raising; also extensive fishing.
Industry, Mining, and Energy: Responsible for 13
percent of GDP in 1993; major sectors food-processing,
mining,
and energy; and in export processing zones clothing
manufacturing. Country has many minerals but exploitation
has
been disappointing. Dependent on imported oil and local
firewood
for energy.
Exports: Estimated at US$311 million in 1992.
Major
exports coffee, vanilla, cloves, shellfish, and sugar.
Main
markets France, United States, Germany, and Japan.
Imports: Estimated at US$614 million in 1992.
Major
imports intermediate manufactures, capital goods,
petroleum,
consumer goods, food. Main suppliers France, Japan, and
Germany.
Balance of Payments: External debt in November
1993
more than US$4 billion; debt has been rescheduled with
Paris Club (see Glossary)
and London Club (see Glossary).
Currency and Exchange Rate: 1 Malagasy franc
(FMG) = 100 centimes; in May 1995, US$1 = FMG4,236.9.
Inflation Rate: Estimated at 20 percent in 1992.
Fiscal Year: Calendar year.
Data as of August 1994
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