UN General Assembly
1984

43. The case of Bolivia is characteristic of the crisis affecting the region. Its economy is suffering from an unprecedented contraction, which is seen in a drop in per capita national income of 30 per cent over the past biennium; runaway inflation, which in 1983 rose to an annual figure of about 300 per cent, and a doubling of the level of unemployment over the past few years. 44. The efforts of the Government of Bolivia to cope with this grave situation have met with obstacles caused by the high level of the foreign debt, unfavourable terms of trade, reduction in the volume of exports, and a sharp decline in essential imports needed for the normal functioning of the country's economic system. For example, the terms of trade worsened by 10 per cent in the last quarter, imports fell by 45 per cent in 1983, and the decline in exports, in the period between 1976 and 1983, reached 35 per cent.