St Lucia 

St Lucia country policy

Policy established 08 September 2009

• Case-by-case assessment
• The country ceiling is 500 mln euro
• Early warning signal 25 mln euro
• - of which was used as at 2011-12-31 0 mln euro

Country class: 6

St Lucia country facts

Atradius DSB Economic Research
Country Report last updated :  28 July 2009
Country :  ST. LUCIA 

Political Situation
Stable

Head of state
QEII, represented by governor-general Pearlette Louisy.

Form of government
Government of the United Workers’ Party (UWP) headed by p.m. Stephenson King. 
 
Internal Economic Situation
Weakened: In 2009 Recession

General situation
Very small and open economy depending on tourism and agricultural exports which are vulnerable to negative external factors like hurricanes and global crises. After a period of economic rebound thanks to buoyant tourist seasons and investments in resorts, hurricane Dean severely hit the economy in 2008, destroying more than 75% of the banana output. Moreover, the sector is hurt by the loss of preferential access to the EU-markets since 2006. In 2009 the economy entered a recession due to impact of the global recession on tourism and fiscal austerity. After a peak in 2008 (higher oil prices), moderated  inflation. 
 
External Economic Situation
Weak

Main sources of foreign exchange
Tourism (75%), agricultural products (bananas, mangoes). 

Main foreign markets
EU (46%), USA (19%), Asia (19%), Latin America (16%).

Main expenses of foreign exchange
Construction material, consumer goods.

Balance of payments 
Until 2009 imports have been boosted by investment activities related to the Cricket World Cup and the tourist sectors. Concessional credits (IADB) and some FDI (tourism) are normally financing the large current account deficits. The East Caribbean $ is pegged to the US$.