Suriname Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
The economy is dominated by the bauxite industry, which accounts for more than 15% of GDP and 70% of export earnings. 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. The government of Ronald VENETIAAN has begun an austerity program, raised taxes, and attempted to control spending. However, in 2002, President VENETIAAN agreed to a large pay raise for civil servants, which threatens his earlier gains in stabilizing the economy. The Dutch Government has agreed to restart the aid flow, which will allow Suriname to access international development financing. The short-term economic outlook depends on the government's ability to control inflation and on the development of projects in the bauxite and gold mining sectors.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $1.533 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.5% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,500 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 22%
services: 65% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line:
70% (2002 est.)

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
17% (2002 est.)

Labor force:
100,000

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

Unemployment rate:
17% (2000)

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

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

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

Electricity - production:
1.959 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 25.2%
hydro: 74.8%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
1.822 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
10,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
10,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
37 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2002)

Agriculture - products:
paddy rice, bananas, palm kernels, coconuts, plantains, peanuts; beef, chickens; forest products; shrimp

Exports:
$495 million f.o.b. (2002)

Exports - commodities:
alumina, crude oil, lumber, shrimp and fish, rice, bananas

Exports - partners:
US 25.7%, Norway 20.4%, France 8.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 6.5%, Canada 6.1%, Iceland 6.1%, Netherlands 5.7% (2002)

Imports:
$604 million f.o.b. (2002)

Imports - commodities:
capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs, cotton, consumer goods

Imports - partners:
US 22.7%, Netherlands 16.1%, China 12.3%, Trinidad and Tobago 11.4%, France 7.6%, Japan 6%, Netherlands Antilles 4.5% (2002)

Debt - external:
$321 million (2002 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
Netherlands provided $37 million for project and program assistance, European Development Fund $4 million, Belgium $2 million (1998)

Currency:
Surinamese guilder (SRG)

Currency code:
SRG

Exchange rates:
Surinamese guilders per US dollar - NA (2003), 2,346.75 (2002), 2,178.5 (2001), 1,322.47 (2000), 859.44 (1999)
note: during 1998, the exchange rate splintered into four distinct rates; in January 1999 the government floated the guilder, but subsequently fixed it when the black-market rate plunged; the government currently allows trading within a band of SRG 500 around the official rate