Joseph Edsel EDMUNDS
chancery:
Suite 309, 2100 M Street NW, Washington, DC 30037
telephone:
(202) 463-7378 or 7379
consulate general:
New York
US diplomatic representation:
no official presence since the Ambassador resides in Bridgetown (Barbados)

*Saint Lucia, Government

Flag:
blue with a gold isosceles triangle below a black arrowhead; the upper edges
of the arrowhead have a white border

*Saint Lucia, Economy

Overview:
Since 1983 the economy has shown an impressive average annual growth rate of
almost 5% because of strong agricultural and tourist sectors. Saint Lucia
also possesses an expanding industrial base supported by foreign investment
in manufacturing and other activities, such as in data processing. The
economy, however, remains vulnerable because the important agricultural
sector is dominated by banana production, which is subject to periodic
droughts and/or tropical storms.
National product:
GDP - exchange rate conversion - $250 million (1991 est.)
National product real growth rate:
2.5% (1991 est.)
National product per capita:
$1,650 (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.1% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
16% (1988)
Budget:
revenues $131 million; expenditures $149 million, including capital
expenditures of $71 million (FY90 est.)
Exports:
$105 million (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
bananas 58%, clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits, coconut oil
partners:
UK 56%, US 22%,CARICOM 19%
Imports:
$267 million (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
manufactured goods 21%, machinery and transportation equipment 21%, food and
live animals, chemicals, fuels
partners:
US 34%, CARICOM 17%, UK 14%, Japan 7%, Canada 4%
External debt:
$65.7 million (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 3.5% (1990 est.); accounts for 12% of GDP
Electricity:
32,500 kW capacity; 112 million kWh produced, 740 kWh per capita (1992)
Industries:
clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages, corrugated boxes,
tourism, lime processing, coconut processing
Agriculture:
accounts for 12% of GDP and 43% of labor force; crops - bananas, coconuts,
vegetables, citrus fruit, root crops, cocoa; imports food for the tourist
industry
Economic aid:
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89),
$120 million
Currency: 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1 - 2.70 (