Economy (Haiti)
===============


     Overview:
         About 75% of the population live in abject poverty. Agriculture is mainly
         small-scale subsistence farming and employs nearly three-fourths of the work
         force. The majority of the population does not have ready access to safe
         drinking water, adequate medical care, or sufficient food. Few social
         assistance programs exist, and the lack of employment opportunities remains
         one of the most critical problems facing the economy, along with soil
         erosion and political instability. Trade sanctions applied by the
         Organization of American States in response to the September 1991 coup
         against President Aristide have further damaged the economy.
     GDP:
         exchange rate conversion - $2.7 billion, per capita $440; real growth rate -
         3.0% (1990 est.)
     Inflation rate (consumer prices):
         20% (1990 est.)
     Unemployment rate:
         25-50% (1990 est.)
     Budget:
         revenues $300 million; expenditures $416 million, including capital
         expenditures of $145 million (1990 est.)
     Exports:
         $169 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
       commodities:
         light manufactures 65%, coffee 19%, other agriculture 8%, other 8%
       partners:
         US 84%, Italy 4%, France 3%, other industrial countries 6%, less developed
         countries 3% (1987)
     Imports:
         $348 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
       commodities:
         machines and manufactures 34%, food and beverages 22%, petroleum products
         14%, chemicals 10%, fats and oils 9%
       partners:
         US 64%, Netherlands Antilles 5%, Japan 5%, France 4%, Canada 3%, Germany 3%
         (1987)
     External debt:
         $838 million (December 1990)
     Industrial production:
         growth rate 0.3% (FY88); accounts for 15% of GDP
     Electricity:
         217,000 kW capacity; 468 million kWh produced, 74 kWh per capita (1991)
     Industries:
         sugar refining, textiles, flour milling, cement manufacturing, tourism,
         light assembly industries based on imported parts
     Agriculture:
         accounts for 28% of GDP and employs 74% of work force; mostly small-scale
         subsistence farms; commercial crops - coffee, mangoes, sugarcane and wood;
         staple crops - rice, corn, sorghum; shortage of wheat flour
     Illicit drugs:
         transshipment point for cocaine
     Economic aid:
         US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-89), $700 million; Western (non-US)
         countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $770 million
     Currency:
         gourde (plural - gourdes); 1 gourde (G) = 100 centimes
     Exchange rates:
         gourdes (G) per US$1 - 5.0 (fixed rate)
     Fiscal year:
         1 October - 30 September