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early momentum of reform, especially by continuing reductions in the extensive remaining government regulations. Moreover, economic policy changes have not yet significantly increased jobs or reduced the risk that international financial strains will reemerge within the next few years. Nearly 40% of the Indian population remains too poor to afford an adequate diet. India's exports, currency, and foreign institutional investment were affected by the East Asian crisis in late 1997 and early 1998, but capital account controls, a low ratio of short-term debt to reserves, and enhanced supervision of the financial sector helped insulate it from near term balance-of-payments problems. Export growth, has been slipping in 1996-97, averaging only about 4% to 5%-a large drop from the more than 20% increases it was experiencing over the prior three years-mainly because of the fall in Asian currencies relative to the rupee. Energy, telecommunications, and transportation shortages and the legacy of inefficient factories constrain industrial growth which expanded only 6.7% in 1997-down from more than 11% in 1996. Growth of the agricultural sector is still fairly slow rebounding to only 5.7% in 1997 from a fall of 0.1% in 1996. Agricultural investment has slowed, while costly subsidies on fertilizer, food distribution, and rural electricity remain. Nevertheless, even if a series of weak coalition governments continue to rule in New Delhi over the next few years and are unable to push reforms aggressively, parts of the economy that have already benefited from deregulation will continue to grow. Indian think tanks project GDP growth of at least 5.5% in 1998.
GDP: purchasing power parity-$1.534 trillion (1997 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 5% (1997 est.)
GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$1,600 (1997 est.)
GDP-composition by sector: agriculture: 30% industry: 28% services: 42% (1996 est.)
Inflation rate-consumer price index: 7% (1997 est.)
Labor force: total: 390 million (1997 est.) by