Part 693

Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar

Economy -------

Economic overview: Spain, with a mixed capitalist economy and a per capita GDP two-thirds that of the four leading economies of Western Europe, has shared with these countries the recession of the early 1990s, the gradual upturn of 1994-95, and the ongoing controversies over the timing and terms of European economic union. Reduction of the budget deficit - at 5.9% of GDP in 1995 - to meet the Maastricht monetary convergence criterion of 3% by 1997 remains the primary goal of Spanish economic policy, but political pressures had kept the Socialist government from implementing the full range of reforms necessary to meet this goal. Spain's official unemployment rate of 23% is the highest in the EU, and the troubled Socialists had been reluctant to cut social spending. Parliament rejected the administration's proposed 1996 budget because of political wrangling - not because of great differences with the substance of the spending plan - forcing the government to continue spending at 1995 levels and use piecemeal decrees to raise consumption taxes to a level consistent with inflation. The conservative opposition Popular Party, now in power after ending 13 years of Socialist rule in the spring of 1996, has promised to cut government spending, loosen regulations on financial markets, and lower taxes to spur job creation. The conservatives have stated support for Spain's role in the EU but also have cautioned against harming Spain's economy by moving too quickly to meet the criteria for monetary union.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $565 billion (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate: 3% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $14,300 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 3.6% industry: 33.6% services: 62.8% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.3% (1995)

Labor force: 11.837 million by occupation: services 59%, industry 21%, agriculture 11%, construction 9% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 22.8% (yearend 1995)

Budget: revenues: $96.8 billion expenditures: $122.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion (1994 est.)

Industries: textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 7% (1995 est.)

Electricity: capacity: 43,800,000 kW production: 148 billion kWh consumption per capita: 3,545 kWh (1993)

Agriculture: grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish catch of 1.4 million metric tons is among top 20 nations

Illicit drugs: key European gateway country for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market; transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin

Exports: $85 billion (f.o.b., 1995) commodities: cars and trucks, semifinished manufactured goods, foodstuffs, machinery partners: EU 68.7%, US 4.9%, other developed countries 7.9% (1994)

Imports: $110 billion (c.i.f., 1995) commodities: machinery, transport equipment, fuels, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals partners: EU 60.9%, US 7.3%, other developed countries 11.5%, Middle East 6.2% (1994)

External debt: $90 billion (1993 est.)

Economic aid: donor: ODA, $1.213 billion (1993)

Currency: 1 peseta (Pta) = 100 centimos

Exchange rates: pesetas (Ptas) per US$1 - 123.19 (January 1996), 124.69 (1995), 133.96 (1994), 127.26 (1993), 102.38 (1992), 103.91 (1991)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Transportation --------------

Railways: total: 14,343 km broad gauge: 12,139 km 1.668-m gauge (6,510 km electrified; 2,295 km double track) standard gauge: 488 km 1.435-m gauge (488 km electrified) narrow gauge: 1,716 km (privately owned: 1,669 km 1.000-m gauge, 489 km electrified; 28 km 0.914-m gauge, 28 km electrified; government owned: 19 km 1.000-m gauge, all electrified)

Highways: total: 331,961 km paved: 328,641 km (including 2,700 km of expressways) unpaved: 3,320 km (1991 est.)

Waterways: 1,045 km, but of minor economic importance

Pipelines: crude oil 265 km; petroleum products 1,794 km; natural gas 1,666 km