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Economy
- overview:
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Burma, a
resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive
government controls, inefficient economic
policies, corruption, and rural poverty. Despite
Burma's emergence as a natural gas exporter,
socio-economic conditions have deteriorated under
the regime's mismanagement, leaving most of the
public in poverty, while military leaders and
their business cronies exploit the country's ample
natural resources. The transfer of state assets,
especially real estate, to cronies and military
families in 2010 under the guise of a
privatization policy further widened the gap
between the economic elite and the public. The
economy suffers from serious macroeconomic
imbalances - including unpredictable inflation,
fiscal deficits, multiple official exchange rates
that overvalue the Burmese kyat, a distorted
interest rate regime, unreliable statistics, and
an inability to reconcile national accounts.
Burma's poor investment climate hampers the inflow
of foreign investment; in recent years, foreign
investors have shied away from nearly every sector
except for natural gas, power generation, timber,
and mining. The exploitation of natural resources
does not benefit the population at large. The
business climate is widely perceived as opaque,
corrupt, and highly inefficient. Over 60% of the
FY 2009-10 budget was allocated to state owned
enterprises - most operating at a deficit. The
most productive sectors will continue to be in
extractive industries - especially oil and gas,
mining, and timber - with the latter two causing
significant environmental degradation. Other
areas, such as manufacturing, tourism and
services, struggle in the face of inadequate
infrastructure, unpredictable trade policies,
neglected health and education systems, and
endemic corruption. A major banking crisis in 2003
caused 20 private banks to close; private banks
still operate under tight restrictions, limiting
the private sector's access to credit. The United
States, the European Union, and Canada have
imposed financial and economic sanctions on Burma.
US sanctions, prohibiting most financial
transactions with Burmese entities, impose travel
bans on senior Burmese military and civilian
leaders and others connected to the ruling regime,
and ban imports of Burmese products. These
sanctions affected the country's fledgling garment
industry, isolated the struggling banking sector,
and raised the costs of doing business with
Burmese companies, particularly firms tied to
Burmese regime leaders. The global crisis of
2008-09 caused exports and domestic consumer
demand to drop. Remittances from overseas Burmese
workers - who had provided significant financial
support for their families - slowed or dried up as
jobs were lost and migrant workers returned home.
Although the Burmese government has good economic
relations with its neighbors, significant
improvements in economic governance, the business
climate, and the political situation are needed to
promote serious foreign investment.
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GDP
(purchasing power parity):
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$76.47 billion
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 80
$72.65 billion
(2009 est.)
$69.1 billion
(2008 est.)
note:
data
are in 2010 US dollars
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GDP
(official exchange rate):
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$42.95 billion
(2010 est.)
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GDP -
real growth rate:
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5.3% (2010
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 65
5.1% (2009
est.)
3.6% (2008
est.)
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GDP -
per capita (PPP):
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$1,400 (2010
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 202
$1,400 (2009
est.)
$1,300 (2008
est.)
note:
data
are in 2010 US dollars
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GDP -
composition by sector:
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agriculture: 43.1%
industry: 20%
services: 36.9%
(2010 est.)
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Labor
force:
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31.68 million
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 18 |
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Labor
force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 70%
industry: 7%
services: 23%
(2001 est.)
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Unemployment
rate:
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5.7% (2010
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 53
4.9% (2009
est.)
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Population
below poverty line:
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32.7% (2007
est.)
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Household
income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 32.4%
(1998)
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Investment
(gross fixed):
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15.1% of GDP
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 134 |
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Budget:
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revenues: $1.411
billion
expenditures: $3.042
billion (2010 est.)
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Taxes
and other revenues:
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3.3% of GDP
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 210 |
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Budget
surplus (+) or deficit (-):
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-3.8% of GDP
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 114 |
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Inflation
rate (consumer prices):
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7.7% (2010
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 184
1.5% (2009
est.)
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Central
bank discount rate:
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9.95% (31
December 2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 20
12% (31
December 2009 est.)
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Commercial
bank prime lending rate:
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17% (31
December 2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 36
17% (31
December 2009 est.)
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Stock
of narrow money:
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$4.907 billion
(31 December 2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 90
$4.038 billion
(31 December 2009 est.)
note:
this
number reflects the vastly overvalued official
exchange rate of 5.38 kyat per dollar in 2007; at
the unofficial black market rate of 1,305 kyat per
dollar for 2007, the stock of kyats would equal
only US$2.465 billion and Burma's velocity of
money (the number of times money turns over in the
course of a year) would be six, in line with the
velocity of money for other countries in the
region; in January-February 2011, the unofficial
black market rate averaged 890 kyat per dollar.
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Stock
of broad money:
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$7.8 billion
(31 December 2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 109
$6.231 billion
(31 December 2009 est.)
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Stock
of domestic credit:
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$11.32 billion
(31 December 2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 93
$7.538 billion
(31 December 2009 est.)
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Market
value of publicly traded shares:
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$NA
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Agriculture
- products:
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rice, pulses,
beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood;
fish and fish products
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Industries:
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agricultural
processing; wood and wood products; copper, tin,
tungsten, iron; cement, construction materials;
pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; oil and natural gas;
garments, jade and gems
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Industrial
production growth rate:
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4.3% (2010
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 96 |
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Electricity
- production:
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6.426 billion
kWh (2008 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 106 |
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Electricity
- consumption:
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4.63 billion
kWh (2008 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 115 |
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Electricity
- exports:
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0 kWh (2009
est.)
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Electricity
- imports:
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0 kWh (2009
est.)
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Oil -
production:
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21,120 bbl/day
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 75 |
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Oil -
consumption:
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37,000 bbl/day
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 109 |
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Oil -
exports:
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0 bbl/day (2009
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 153 |
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Oil -
imports:
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19,700 bbl/day
(2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 113 |
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Oil -
proved reserves:
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50 million bbl
(1 January 2011 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 79 |
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Natural
gas - production:
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11.54 billion
cu m (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 38 |
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Natural
gas - consumption:
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3.25 billion cu
m (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 68 |
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Natural
gas - exports:
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8.29 billion cu
m (2009 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 23 |
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Natural
gas - imports:
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0 cu m (2009
est.)
country
comparison to the world: 157 |
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Natural
gas - proved reserves:
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283.2 billion
cu m (1 January 2011 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 40 |
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Current
account balance:
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$1.549 billion
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 46
$704.8 million
(2009 est.)
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Exports:
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$8.813 billion
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 93
$6.862 billion
(2009 est.)
note:
official
export figures are grossly underestimated due to
the value of timber, gems, narcotics, rice, and
other products smuggled to Thailand, China, and
Bangladesh
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Exports
- commodities:
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natural gas,
wood products, pulses, beans, fish, rice,
clothing, jade and gems
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Exports
- partners:
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Thailand 38.3%,
India 20.8%, China 12.9%, Japan 5.2% (2010)
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Imports:
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$4.296 billion
(2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 124
$4.02 billion
(2009 est.)
note:
import
figures are grossly underestimated due to the
value of consumer goods, diesel fuel, and other
products smuggled in from Thailand, China,
Malaysia, and India
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Imports
- commodities:
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fabric,
petroleum products, fertilizer, plastics,
machinery, transport equipment; cement,
construction materials, crude oil; food products,
edible oil
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Imports
- partners:
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China 38.9%,
Thailand 23.2%, Singapore 12.9%, South Korea 5.8%
(2010)
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Reserves
of foreign exchange and gold:
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$3.762 billion
(31 December 2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 93
$3.561 billion
(31 December 2009 est.)
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Debt -
external:
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$7.998 billion
(31 December 2010 est.)
country
comparison to the world: 94
$8.186 billion
(31 December 2009 est.)
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Exchange
rates:
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kyats (MMK) per
US dollar -
966 (2010)
1,055 (2009)
1,205 (2008)
1,296 (2007)
1,280 (2006)
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