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Economy
overview:
Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina
and bauxite account for more than half of exports) and
tourism. Since assuming office in 1992, Prime Minister
PATTERSON has eliminated most price controls, streamlined
tax schedules, and privatized government enterprises.
Continued tight monetary and fiscal policies have helped
slow inflation and stabilize the exchange rate, but have
resulted in the slow-down of economic growth (moving from
1.5% in 1992 to 0.5% in 1995. In 1996, GDP was in negative
growth (-1.4%) and remained so in 1997. Serious problems
include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition;
the weak financial condition of business in general resulting
in receiverships or closures and downsizings of companies;
the shift in investment portfolios to non-productive,
short-term high yield instruments; a pressured, sometimes
sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit;
and a growing internal debt for government bailouts to
various ailing sectors of the economy. Jamaica's medium-term
prospects will depend upon encouraging investment in the
productive sectors, maintaining a competitive exchange
rate, stabilizing the labor environment, and implementing
proper fiscal and monetary policies.
GDP:
purchasing power parity—$9.5 billion (1996
est.)
GDP real
growth rate: -1.4% (1996 est.)
GDP per
capita: purchasing power parity—$3,660
(1996 est.)
GDP composition
by sector:
agriculture:
8%
industry: 37%
services: 55% (1996 est.)
Inflation
rate consumer price index: 17% (1996
est.)
Labor force:
total: 1.14
million (1996)
by occupation: services 41%, agriculture 22.5%,
industry 19%, unemployed 17.5% (1989)
Unemployment
rate: 16% (1996 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$3 billion
expenditures: $3 billion, including capital expenditures
of $1.163 billion (FY97/98 est.)
Industries:
tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing,
light manufactures
Industrial
production growth rate: NA%
Electricity
capacity: 1.182 million kW (1995)
Electricity
production: 3.87 billion kWh (1995)
Electricity
consumption per capita: 1,503 kWh (1995)
Agriculture
products: sugarcane, bananas, coffee,
citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk
Exports:
total value:
$1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas,
rum
partners: US 37%, UK 13%, Canada 12%, Netherlands
9%, Norway 7%
Imports:
total value:
$2.9 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment,
construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals
partners: US 52%, Trinidad and Tobago 8%, Japan
6%, UK 4%, Canada 3%
Debt external:
$3.2 billion (1997 est.)
Economic
aid:
recipient:
ODA, $306 million (1996)
Currency:
1 Jamaican dollar (J$) = 100 cents
Exchange
rates: Jamaican dollars (J$) per US$1—36.051
(November 1997), 37.120 (1996), 35.142 (1995), 33.086
(1994), 24.949 (1993)
Fiscal year:
1 April 31 March
©
CIA 1998
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