Dominican economy: Lot more to be done.

The Hurricane (Dean)-hit economy of Dominica is already recovering. But the pace at which unemployment and public debt is increasing, is much faster than the pace of economic development.

The country’s public debt to the GDP ratio is said to be well over 75%, with unemployment touching 30%, and inflation around 4%. The Dominican economy gave a good account of itself in 2008, and expected to close in the black for the fiscal 2009 also.

The GDP per capita of the country is a reasonable near USD 10,000.00. Agriculture, by far, is the most important occupation of the people, with Bananas occupying the pride of place. Other agricultural produce includes root crops, cocoa, coconuts, mangoes, citrus fruits, etc. Agriculture provides employment to well over 40% of the workforce, and constitutes almost 18% to the GDP.

Among the industries in Dominica are soap, shoes, furniture, tourism, etc. The country exports bananas, foodstuffs, fruits, etc., and imports machinery and equipment, food, chemicals, etc. The United States, China, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, etc are the major trading partners.

The present economic downturn around the world has hit Dominica’s economy also. Foreign remittances are down with the number of tourist arrivals coming down. Demand for Dominica’s exports is down on account of the economic situation in the importing countries. The general economic outlook for Dominica, at least in the short term, is not very positive.

Although Dominica has adopted a consultative approach to budget making, and has tried to address the concerns of all concerned, it has not succeeded to a great extent, in diversifying its economic base, and to cater to the growing number of the jobless. In order to meet the challenges posed by the restrictive growth in the next few years worldwide, Dominica has to gear itself to create opportunities to its people to realize their potential, and in turn, contribute to the welfare of the country.