o make Jamaica a regional leader in
economic reform. PATTERSON has eliminated most price controls,
streamlined tax schedules, and privatized government enterprises.
Tight monetary and fiscal policies under an IMF program have helped
slow inflation and stabilize the exchange rate, but, as a result,
economic growth has slowed down and unemployment remains high.
Jamaica's medium-term prospects depend largely on its ability to
continue to attract foreign capital and limit speculation against
the Jamaican dollar.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $8.2 billion (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate: 0.8% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $3,200 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 7.9%
industry: 28.1%
services: 64% (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 25.5% (1995)

Labor force: 1,062,100
by occupation: services 41%, agriculture 22.5%, industry 19%,
unemployed 17.5% (1989)

Unemployment rate: 15.4% (1994 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.45 billion
expenditures: $2 billion, including capital expenditures of $732
million (FY95/96 est.)

Industries: bauxite, tourism, textiles, food processing, light
manufactures

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity:
capacity: 730,000 kW
production: 2.6 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 988 kWh (1993)

Agriculture: sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes,
vegetables; poultry, goats, milk

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine from Central and
South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of
cannabis; government has an active cannabis eradication program

Exports: $2 billion (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities: alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum
partners: US 47%, UK 11%, Canada 9%, Norway 7%, France 4% (1993)

Imports: $2.7 billion (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, construction
materials, fuel, food, chemicals
partners: US 54%, Japan 4.0%, Mexico 6%, UK 4%, Venezuela 3% (1993)

External debt: $3.6 billion (1994 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $239 million (1993)

Currency: 1 Jamaican dollar (J$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Jamaican dollars (J$) per US$1 - 39.86 (December
1995), 33.086 (1994), 24.949 (1993), 22.960 (1992), 12.116 (1991)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Transportation
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Railways:
total: 272 km
standard gauge: 272 km 1.435-m gauge; note - 207 km belonging to the
J