ured,
sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a sizable merchandise trade
deficit; large-scale unemployment; and a growing internal debt, the
result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy. The
ratio of debt to GDP is close to 150%. Inflation, previously a
bright spot, is expected to remain in the double digits. Depressed
economic conditions have led to increased civil unrest, including
gang violence fueled by the drug trade. In 2004, the government
faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline
in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a
serious and growing crime problem that is hampering economic growth.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $10.61 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.9% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,900 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 6.7%
industry: 37.2%
services: 56.2% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
31.6% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
19.7% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.7%
highest 10%: 30.3% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
37.9 (2000)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
10.3% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
1.13 million (2003)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 21%, industry 19%, services 60% (1998)

Unemployment rate:
15.9% (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.596 billion
expenditures: $3.111 billion, including capital expenditures of $236
million (2003 est.)

Public debt:
145.6% of GDP (2003)

Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, vegetables, poultry,
goats, milk, crustaceans, and mollusks

Industries:
tourism, bauxite/alumina, textiles, agro processing, wearing
apparel, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical
products, telecommunications

Industrial production growth rate:
-2% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
6.272 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
5.833 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
66,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA (2001)

Oil - imports:
NA (2001)

Current account balance:
$-842 million (2003)

Exports:
$1.355 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports -