Burma lashes out at US (Read This)

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This report is available through the Burma, Thailand, Laas and Cambodia
desk at U. S. State Dept.  Call 202-647-7108 or fax 202-736-4559.  A fax
of the 3 page executive summary is available there.

In contrast to the superficial analyses from the IMF and World Bank, this
report uses official numbers to examine military spending and opiates
income within the economy, both of which were exempted from the IMF and
World Bank studies.  The report finds that approx. 3% of GNP is derived
from unpaid labor, mostly on infrasctructure, that military spending
accounts for half of total spending, and that governance in Burma
is opaque and unaccountable.

This report should be widely read and discussed.  It is quite simply the
best analysis done on the Burmese economy in many, many years. LD



	 RANGOON, Aug 3 (Reuter) - A Burmese minister lashed out at
the United States on Saturday over reports saying Burma's
economy was not as strong as the government portrayed.
	 Brigadier-General David Abel, Minister for National Planning
and Economic Development, told journalists the reports, written
by the U.S. Embassy, were misleading and aimed at discrediting
the Rangoon government.
	 The documents, one a commercial guide to Burma and the other
an economics trend report, were given to Abel by the embassy
late on Friday.
	 The economics trend report, a summary of which was obtained
by Reuters, said Burma faced a number of problems in the medium
and long term. It said growth rates were much lower than the
government maintained and might not be sustainable.
	 ``I think these reports don't have much credibility,'' Abel
told reporters at a hastily called and rare news conference.
``These reports don't portray the real economic situation in
Myanamar (Burma). They are very misleading reports.''
	 Abel, who said he studied the reports through the night,
said they were not based on official studies or statistics. He
said Burma was on the road to very strong economic progress.
	 The economic trends document said the statistics were
unofficial embassy estimates but it drew heavily on reports by
the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and data from
the Burmese government.
	 ``Since the statistics are unofficial...we can come to the
conclusion that the intention of issuing such a report is only
to seed doubt and cause mischief and to maliciously discredit
the SLORC and the successful economic endeavours and the
nation-building process,'' Abel said, referring to the ruling
military State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
	 The SLORC has tried to liberalise the economy, which
stagnated under more than 25 years of nationalist socialist
governments, since it seized power in 1988 after quelling
pro-democracy uprisings.
	 Abel said the reports seem to be politically motivated by
the United States, which has repeatedly accused the SLORC of
human rights abuses and critcised its refusal to negotiate with
the democracy movement led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi.
	 ``After making detailed studies, I notice the main salient
factor written in the report is that the SLORC is not
transparent in its financial dealings or policies,'' Abel said.
	 ``I don't know what they mean by not being transparent. They
don't specifiy exactly what they want to say.''
	 The trend report said governance was ``opaque and
unaccountable.''
	 It also said the SLORC had greatly increased defence
spending to at least half the total of central government
operating expenditures, and in turn had cut spending on heath
and education.
	 It also said the SLORC had ``reduced obstacles to foreign
trade and investment, and to inflows of funds from the
extralegal economy.''
	 Abel rejected the allegations. He said Burma's defence
spending was between eight to 10 percent of the budget and the
government had rendered reports on the financial, economic and
social conditions of the country every year.
	 He also denied the extralegal economy had played a major
role.
	 ``There might be a certain portion of extralegal economic
undertakings, but I think it has not played a considerable role
in the economy,'' he said.