Bhutan

In 1865, Britain and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchulu, under which Bhutan would receive an annual subsidy in exchange for ceding some border land to British India. Under British influence, a monarchy was set up in 1907; three years later, a treaty was signed whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. This role was assumed by independent India after 1947. Two years later, a formal Indo-Bhutanese accord returned the areas of Bhutan annexed by the British, formalized the annual subsidies the country received, and defined India's responsibilities in defense and foreign relations. A refugee issue of over 100,000 Bhutanese in Nepal remains unresolved; 90% of the refugees are housed in seven United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camps. In March 2005, King Jigme Singye WANGCHUCK unveiled the government's draft constitution - which would introduce major democratic reforms - and pledged to hold a national referendum for its approval. In December 2006, the King abdicated the throne to his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel WANGCHUCK, in order to give him experience as head of state before the democratic transition. In early 2007, India and Bhutan renegotiated their treaty to allow Bhutan greater autonomy in conducting its foreign policy, although Thimphu continues to coordinate policy decisions in this area with New Delhi. In July 2007, seven ministers of Bhutan's ten-member cabinet resigned to join the political process, and the cabinet acted as a caretaker regime until democratic elections for seats to the country's first parliament were completed in March 2008. The king ratified the country's first constitution in July 2008.

Economical characteristics

• Currency: Ngultrum (ISO code: BTN)
• Central bank discount rate: NA%
• Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2008)
• Stock of money (M1): $NA (31 December 2008)
• Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA (31 December 2008)

Statistics

Statistic / Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
GDP (million USD)	397	428	456	514	614	692	769	883	1 153	1 283
Govt. debt (% of GDP)	36.328	40.164	73.123	59.678	71.427	77.657
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)	20.903	23.479	22.785	20.453	17.009	16.219
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)	19.112	19.695	21.101	19.576	19.256	17.532
Debt to revenue (years)	1.738	1.711	3.209	2.918	4.199	4.788

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

External links

• Bhutan on Wikipedia
• Central bank of Bhutan
• Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
• Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
• BBC country profile