apparently brought inflation under control - consumer prices increased by 23% in 1995 compared to more than 1,000% in 1994. At the same time, GDP growth slowed from 5.7% to 4.2% as credit was tightened and the steadily appreciating real encouraged imports while depressing export growth. The increased stability of the Brazilian economy allowed it to weather the fallout from the Mexican peso crisis relatively well, with foreign funds flowing in during the second half of 1995 to swell official foreign exchange reserves past the $50 billion mark. Stock market indices in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, however, ended 26% lower in 1995. President CARDOSO remains committed to further reducing inflation in 1996 while boosting growth, but he faces key challenges. Servicing domestic debt has become dramatically more burdensome for both public and private sector entities because of very high real interest rates which are contributing to growing budget deficits and a surge in bankruptcies. Fiscal reforms, many of which require constitutional amendments, are proceeding at a slow pace through the Brazilian legislature; in their absence, the government is maintaining its strict monetary policy. Brazil's natural resources remain a major, long-run economic strength.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $976.8 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 4.2% (1995)
GDP per capita: $6,100 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 16% industry: 25% services: 59% (1994)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 23% (1995)
Labor force: 57 million (1989 est.) by occupation: services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27%
Unemployment rate: 5% (1995 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $58.7 billion
expenditures: $54.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1994)
Industries: textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment
Industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (1995 est.)
Electricity: capacity: 55,130,000 kW production: 241.4 billion kWh consumption per capita: 1,589 kWh (1993)
Agriculture: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, coca cultivation in the Amazon region has diminished in recent years because of its low alkaloid content, mostly for domestic consumption; government has a large-scale eradication program to control cannabis; important transshipment country for Bolivian and Colombian cocaine headed for the US and Europe
Exports: $46.5 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: iron ore, soybean bran, orange juice, footwear, coffee,
motor vehicle parts
partners: EU 27.6%, Latin America 21.8%, US 17.4%, Japan 6.3% (1993)
Imports: $49.7 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: crude oil, capital goods, chemical products,
foodstuffs, coal
partners: US 23.3%, EU 22.5%, Middle East 13.0%, Latin America
11.8%, Japan 6.5% (1993)
External debt: $94 billion (1995 est.)
Economic aid: recipient: ODA, $107 million (1993)
Currency: 1 real (R$) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: R$ per US$1 - 0.975 (January 1996), 0.918 (1995),
0.639 (1994); CR$ per US$1 - 390.845 (January 1994), 88.449 (1993),
4.513 (1992), 0.407 (1991)
note: on 1 August 1993 the cruzeiro real (CR$), equal to 1,000
cruzeiros, was introduced; another new currency, the real (R$) was
introduced on 1 July 1994, equal to 2,750 cruzeiro reals
Fiscal year: calendar year
Transportation———————
Railways:
total: 27,418 km (1,750 km electrified)
broad gauge: 5,730 km 1.600-m gauge
standard gauge: 194 km 1.440-m gauge
narrow gauge: 20,958 km 1.000-m gauge; 13 km 0.760-m gauge
dual gauge: 523 km 1.000-m and 1.600-m gauges
Highways: total: 1,661,850 km paved: 142,919 km unpaved: 1,518,931 km (1992 est.)
Waterways: 50,000 km navigable
Pipelines: crude oil 2,000 km; petroleum products 3,804 km;
natural gas 1,095 km
Ports: Belem, Fortaleza, Ilheus, Imbituba, Manaus, Paranagua,
Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, Salvador, Santos,
Vitoria
Merchant marine:
total: 207 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,108,543
GRT/8,477,760 DWT
ships by type: bulk 48, cargo 29, chemical tanker 11, combination
ore/oil 12, container 14, liquefied gas tanker 11, multifunction
large-load carrier 1, oil tanker 64, passenger-cargo 5, refrigerated
cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 11 (1995 est.)
Airports:
total: 2,950
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 5
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 19
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 122
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 295
with paved runways under 914 m: 1,298
with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 66
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 1,145 (1995 est.)
Communications———————
Telephones: 14,426,673 (1992 est.)
Telephone system: good working system domestic: extensive microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 64 earth stations international: 3 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean Region East)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1,223, FM 0, shortwave 151
Radios: 60 million (1993 est.)
Television
