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Turkmenistan
- Economy
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Overview
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Turkmenistan is largely a desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and sizeable gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; formerly it was the world's 10th-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to an almost 50% decline in cotton exports. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. From 1998-2005, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by an average of roughly 15% per year from 2003-08, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. New pipelines to China and Iran, that began operation in late 2009 or early 2010, will give Turkmenistan additional export routes for its gas. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, endemic corruption, a poor educational system, government misuse of oil and gas revenues, and Ashgabat's reluctance to adopt market-oriented reforms. In addition, the global recession and a contract dispute with Russia that had virtually stopped exports via this major export route for about 9 months slowed Turkmenistan's economy in 2009. In the past, Turkmenistan's economic statistics were state secrets. The new government has established a State Agency for Statistics, but GDP numbers and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain. Since his election, President BERDIMUHAMEDOW unified the country's dual currency exchange rate, ordered the redenomination of the manat, reduced state subsidies for gasoline, and initiated development of a special tourism zone on the Caspian Sea. Although foreign investment is encouraged, numerous bureaucratic obstacles impede international business activity.
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GDP
(Gross
domestic product) |
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Purchasing
power parity:
$ 32,560,000,000
USD (2009)
Rank: 102
Official
exchange rate:
$31.86 billion
Composition by
sector
- agriculture: 24.4%
- industry: 33.9%
- services: 41.7%
Per capita: $ 6,700
(2009 est.)
Rank: 127
Real growth rate: 6.1
(2009 est.)
Rank: 18
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Industrial Sector &
Agriculture |
Industries: natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
Industrial production growth rate: 7,3
(2009 est.)
Rank: 39
Agriculture - products: cotton, grain; livestock
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Labor Force
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Labor force: 2,320,000
(2003 est. )
Rank: 109
by
occupation: agriculture: 48.2%; industry: 13.8%; services: 37% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate:
60
(2004 est.)
Rank: 195
Population below poverty
line: 58%
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Financial Data |
Currency: Turkmen manat (TMM)
Code:
TMMTM
Exchange rates: Turkmen manats per US dollar - 5,200 (2003), 5,200 (2002), 5,200 (2001), 5,200 (2000), 5,200 (1999);note - the official exchange rate has not varied for the last six years; the unofficial rate has fluctuated slightly, hovering around 21,000 manats to the
Currency Calculator
Current
account balance: $ 1,065,000,000
(2009 est.)
Rank: 41
Budget
2006
- revenues:
revenues: $1.434 billion
- expenditures: expenditures: $1.386 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Inflation rate: 10
(2009 est.
Rank: 194
Reserves: $ 3,358,000,000
USD (2005)
Rank: 78
Investment: 8.5
(2009)
Rank: 150
Public Debt:
USD ( )
Rank:
Debt - external: $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)
(2009 est.)
Rank: 102
Economic Aid - Donor:
Economic Aid - Recipient: $28.25 million from the US (2005)
Household income by percentage share highest
10%: 31.7%
Household income by percentage share lowest 10%: 2.6%
Bezugsjahr: (1998)
Gini Index: 40.8
Gini Index US: 40.8
Gini Index Bezugsjahr: 1998
Corruption Index: 1.6
Corruption Rank: 172
Tourismus:
Tourismus-Einnahmen:
Fiscal year: calendar year
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Source:
CIA
World Factbook. This page was last updated on
18 February, 2011
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