Saint Vincent And The Grenadines 

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines country policy

Policy established 22 May 2000

• The country ceiling is 30 mln euro
• Early warning signal 30 mln euro
• Private buyers: SIF facility

Country class: 6

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines country facts

Atradius DSB  Economic Research
Country Report last updated :  12 December 2008 
Country :  ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 

Political Situation
Stable

Head of state
QE II, represented by a governor-general Freddy Ballantyne.

Form of government
Majority government of centre-left Unity Labour Party, headed by p.m. Ralph Gonsalves.

Internal Economic Situation
Uneven Growth; Improved But Still Weak PUBLIC FINANCE
General situation
Small and open economy depending on tourism and agricultural exports (bananas) which are vulnerable to external factors (hurricanes, volcano La Soufriere, US economy). Rather uneven GDP-growth is led by tourism which buoys construction activity and tourism-related services. Banana-exports have been hurt by the phasing out of the EU-preferential treatment, also fueling unemployment and poverty. Better regulation and supervision have enhanced the (offshore) financial sector; non performing loans below ECCA-average. Due to higher oil- and foodprices inflation peaked at >9% during 2008. 
 
External Economic Situation
Weak

Main sources of foreign exchange
Tourist revenues, banana exports.

Main foreign markets
Latin America (63%), EU (28%), USA (9%).

Main expenses of foreign exchange
Consumer good (58%), intermediate goods (19%).

Balance of payments 
Very large deficits on current account balance have to be  financed by some FDI (tourism), foreign bank loans and multilateral loans.