five horizontal bands of green (top, double width),
white, red (quadruple width), white, and green (double width); there
is a large, yellow, five-pointed star centered in the red band

@Suriname:Economy

Economy - overview: The economy is dominated by the bauxite industry,
which accounts for more than 15% of GDP and 70% of export earnings.
After assuming power in the fall of 1996, the WIJDENBOSCH government
ended the structural adjustment program of the previous government,
claiming it was unfair to the poorer elements of society. Tax revenues
fell as old taxes lapsed and the government failed to implement new
tax alternatives. By the end of 1997, the allocation of new Dutch
development funds was frozen as Surinamese Government relations with
the Netherlands deteriorated. Economic growth slowed in 1998, with
decline in the mining, construction, and utility sectors. Rampant
government expenditures, poor tax collection, a bloated civil service,
and reduced foreign aid in 1999 contributed to the fiscal deficit,
estimated at 11% of GDP. The government sought to cover this deficit
through monetary expansion, which led to a dramatic increase in
inflation and exchange rate depreciation. Suriname's economic
prospects for the medium term will depend on renewed commitment to
responsible monetary and fiscal policies and to the introduction of
structural reforms to liberalize markets and promote competition.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.48 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: -1% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,400 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 22%
services: 65% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 170% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 100,000

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services
NA%

Unemployment rate: 20% (1997)

Budget:
revenues: $393 million
expenditures: $403 million, including capital expenditures of $34
million (1997 est.)

Industries: bauxite and gold mining, alumina and aluminum production,
lumbering, food processing, fishing

Industrial production growth rate: 6.5% (1994 est.)

Electricity - production: 2.008 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 24.65%
hydro: 75.35%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: