While unemployment has recently risen to over 7 per cent of the work-force, it remains well below its 1992 peak, and well below that in most of the countries of Europe, notwithstanding the impact on production and exports of the Asian crisis and two successive years of drought.
This year, BIS Review 17/1998  -3-  during April-December, growth of exports was 9.1 per cent and that of imports 13.5 per cent, both in SDR terms. The Foreign Direct Investment flows continue to rise and are $ 2.5 billion during April-December 1997-98 as against $ 2.7 billion during the whole of 1996-97.