3. Read and retell the text:

BRITISH ECONOMY

Britain’s economy is based primarily on private, which accounts for 75 per cent of output and nearly 70 per cent of employment. Britain is one of the highly industrialized countries in the world: for every person employed in agriculture, twelve are employed in industry. Most of the gross national product comes from manufacturing. But services contribute a growing proportion of production – 65 per cent, while manufacturing accounts for 21 per cent.

By successfully exploiting oil and natural gas from the North Sea, Britain has become self-sufficient in energy and expects to remain so for a long time. Exports, mainly to other EC countries, are equivalent to over half of domestic oil production.

International trade plays a vital role in Britain’s economy. Exports of goods and services make up 25 per cent of national output, compared with 20 per cent in 1980s.

From 1981 to 1989 economy experienced eight years of sustained growth. The rate of inflation declined sharply in the early 1980s before rising again in 1990s. By December 1998, it had dropped to 3.6 per cent. The number of people in employment increased by 3 mln in the seven years to mid-1990, but since then self employment has risen. Nevertheless, unemployment is about 10 per cent of the workforce. Growth in manufacturing productivity in Britain in the 1990s was faster than in all other leading industrialized countries, increasing by an average of 4.7 per cent a year till mid-90s. Productivity in the economy as a whole has risen slowly lately.

The Government’s economic strategy is centered on keeping the rate of inflation down. Public spending and borrowing are tightly controlled. At the same time government policy seeks to improve the working of markets and promote enterprise and efficiency. A substantial amount of activity has been transferred from the public to the private sector through privatization and contracting out. Since 1980s 46 major businesses have been privatized, including British Gas, British Telecom and British Steel. The remaining major nationalized industries are British Coal, British Rail, the Post Office and London Transport. These are expected to act as commercial enterprises and achieve a required rate of return on new investment.

Around 250 British industrial companies each have an annual turnover of more than GBP 500 million. British Petroleum is the 11^th largest industrial grouping in the world and the 2^nd largest in Europe. The largest manufacturing concerns are BAT Industries (tobacco products, food), Imperial Chemical Industries (chemical and synthetic fibres), British Aerospace, Ford, General Electric Company, British Steel, Pharmaceutical Production, Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Textiles, Clothing and Footwear, paper, printing and publishing.

And finally, Britain is a major financial centre, housing some of the world’s leading banking, insurance, securities, shipping, commodities, futures and other financial services and markets.

Direct control on pay, prices, foreign exchange, dividend payments and commercial credit are under strict security of the Government.