e gold
band; the trident head represents independence and a break with the
past (the colonial coat of arms contained a complete trident)

@Barbados:Economy

Economy-overview: Historically, the Barbadian economy had been
dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but
production in recent years has diversified into manufacturing and
tourism. The start of the Port Charles Marina project in Speightstown
helped the tourism industry continue to expand in 1996-97. The
government continues its efforts to reduce the unacceptably high
unemployment rate, encourage direct foreign investment, and privatize
remaining state-owned enterprises.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$2.8 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 3% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$10,900 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 7%
industry: 17%
services: 76% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 2.4% (1996)

Labor force:
total: 68,900 (1996)
by occupation: services 75%, industry 15%, agriculture 10% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 16.2% (1996)

Budget:
revenues: $600 million
expenditures: $645 million, including capital expenditures of $80
million (FY96/97 est.)

Industries: tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly
for export

Industrial production growth rate: 0.8% (1996)

Electricity-capacity: 140,000 kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 591.5 million kWh (1996)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 2,145 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: sugarcane, vegetables, cotton

Exports:
total value: $235 million (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages,
chemicals, electrical components, clothing
partners: US 15%, UK 15%, Trinidad and Tobago 9%, Windward Islands 8%

Imports:
total value: $763 million (c.i.f., 1995)
commodities: consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction
materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components
partners: US 37%, Trinidad and Tobago 11%, UK 10%, Japan 7%

Debt-external: $359 million (December 1996)

Economic aid: $NA

Currency: 1 Barbadian dollar (Bds$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1-2.0000 (fixed rate
pegged to the dollar)

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

Communications

Telephones: 87,343 (1991 est.)

Telephone system:
domestic: island wide automatic telephone system
international: satellite earth station-1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean);
tropospheric scat