roducts must be imported. The
islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead, zinc,
nickel, and gold. The economy suffered from a severe cyclone in mid-1986
that caused widespread damage to the infrastructure.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $200 million, per capita $600; real growth rate
6.0% (1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
10.2% (1990)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $44 million; expenditures $45 million, including capital
expenditures of $22 million (1989 est.)
Exports:
$67.3 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
fish 46%, timber 31%, copra 5%, palm oil 5%
partners:
Japan 51%, UK 12%, Thailand 9%, Netherlands 8%, Australia 2%, US 2% (1985)
Imports:
$86.0 million (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
plant and machinery 30%, fuel 19%, food 16%
partners:
Japan 36%, US 23%, Singapore 9%, UK 9%, NZ 9%, Australia 4%, Hong Kong 4%,
China 3% (1985)
External debt:
$128 million (1988 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 0% (1987); accounts for 5% of GDP
Electricity:
21,000 kW capacity; 39 million kWh produced, 115 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries:
copra, fish (tuna)
Agriculture:
including fishing and forestry, accounts for about 70% of GDP; mostly
subsistence farming; cash crops - cocoa, beans, coconuts, palm kernels,
timber; other products - rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, cattle, pigs;
not self-sufficient in food grains; 90% of the total fish catch of 44,500
metric tons was exported (1988)
Economic aid:
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-89),
$250 million
Currency:
Solomon Islands dollar (plural - dollars); 1 Solomon Islands dollar (SI$) =
100 cents
Exchange rates:
Solomon Islands dollars (SI$) per US$1 - 2.8740 (March 1992), 2.7148 (1991),
2.5288 (1990), 2.2932 (1989), 2.0825 (1988), 2.0033 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

:Solomon Islands Communications

Highways:
about 2,100 km total (1982); 30 km paved, 290 km gravel, 980 km earth, 800
private logging and plantation roads of varied construction
Ports:
Honiara, Ringi Cove
Civil air:
no major transport aircraft
Airports:
33 total, 30 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways
over 2,439 m; 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
3,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 4 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 P