These remittances supplement GDP and help offset the large foreign trade deficit. Foreign assistance and humanitarian aid also supported the recovery. Most agricultural land was privatized in 1992, substantially improving peasant incomes. A sharp fall in chromium prices has reduced hard currency receipts from the mining sector. Large segments of the population, especially those living in urban areas, continue to depend on humanitarian aid to meet basic food requirements.
Unemployment remains a severe problem accounting for approximately one-fifth of the work force.
Now that sanctions on Serbia have been suspended, the falloff in hard currency earnings from smuggling will aggravate unemployment problems. Growth is expected to continue in 1996, but could falter if workers' remittances from Greece are reduced or foreign assistance declines.