Once it is removed from the lists, North Korea will be able to better tap into international finance.
Due to the small size of North Korea's rickety economy, any increases in investment and trade could have major effects, experts said, adding that increased revenue would likely make its way to Pyongyang's leaders and further solidify their rule.
"It will basically secure their legitimacy and their survivability," said Carl Baker, director of programmes at the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank in Hawaii.
U.S. officials acknowledged that the North Korean declaration, which came six months after a December deadline, fell short of answering all concerns about Pyongyang's atomic ambitions, especially on past nuclear proliferation activities.
Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser, said the statement revealed the amount of plutonium North Korea had produced but did not detail its nuclear arsenal.
But he said U.S. experts could "do the math" and that issue would be discussed in a further phase of the so-called six-party talks.
Under a deal North Korea struck with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, Pyongyang was required to start taking apart its Yongbyon nuclear plant and provide the nuclear list by the end of 2007.
U.S. and South Korean officials said North Korea has taken most of the steps to put the Yongbyon facility - that includes the reactor, a plant to make nuclear fuel and another to turn spent fuel into plutonium - out of business for at least a year.
"The key issue here is of course verification and what type of an inspection regime the North Koreans agree to," said Lee Chung-min, professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul.
"Once we come down to the nitty-gritty of inspections, they will basically try to prolong the process as long as possible, without giving up nuclear weapons."
