Economic profiles of Caribbean countries

Introduction
With its programme of assistance to the Caribbean, the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean has prepared
these economic profiles for 26 independent and non-independent countries of the Caribbean
subregion. These countries are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica,
Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles,
Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname,
Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and the United States Virgin Islands.

Each profile is intended to provide the reader with a succinct snapshot of the economy
of the respective island under consideration, while also providing a time series of
selected economic variables. The profiles are divided into a number of sections, namely,
basic facts, background of the economy, economic activity, fiscal operations, external
debt and debt service and balance of payments. In particular, they look at unemployment,
inflation, growth and exchange rates and present data on current revenue and expenditure
and the fiscal balance. The section on external debt and debt service looks at the
debt/GDP ratios and debt service ratios, while the balance of payments section, in most
cases, describes the trade balances, current account balances, transfers, balances on the
capital and financial accounts and the overall balances.

The document does not attempt to analyze or examine the economic prospects of the
economies, but rather focuses on describing the country's particular economic
situation for the 1993-1998 time period, contingent upon the availability of data. It is
hoped that this publication will allow for a better understanding of the economic
situation in these countries