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Trinidad & Tobago: Economy
Overview:
Trinidad and Tobago's petroleum-based economy still enjoys a high per
capita income by Latin American standards, even though output and living
standards are substantially below the boom years of 1973-82. The country
suffers from widespread unemployment, large foreign-debt payments, and
periods of low international oil prices. The government has begun to make
progress in its efforts to diversify exports and to liberalize its trade
regime, making 1994 the first year of substantial growth since the early
1980s.
- Gross National Product:
GDP - purchasing power parity - $15 billion (1994 est.)
- National product real growth rate:
3% (1994 est.)
- National product per capita:
$11,280 (1994 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
10.1% (1994 est.)
- Unemployment rate:
18.1% (1994 )
- Budget:
Revenues: $1.6 billion
Expenditures: $1.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $158
million (1993 est.)
- Exports:
$1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
- Commodities:
Petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, steel products,
fertilizer, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus, flowers
- Partners:
U.S. 44%, CARICOM 15%, Latin America 9%, EC 5%
- Imports:
$996 million (c.i.f., 1994)
Commodities: Machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods,
food, live animals
- Partners:
US 43%, Venezuela 10%, UK 8%, other EC 8%
- Industries:
Petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage,
cotton textiles
Agriculture: accounts for 3% of GDP; major crops - cocoa,
sugarcane; sugarcane acreage is being shifted into rice, citrus,
coffee, vegetables; poultry sector most important source of animal
protein; must import large share of food needs
- Currency:
1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents
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