Economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis
As elsewhere in the Eastern Caribbean, financial services are of growing importance. This is especially true in Nevis, which has a reputation as an efficient and discreet tax haven. Most investors are based in North America and Europe, and few are local. The banks and other businesses offer services to customers, individuals, and businesses seeking to avoid taxation in the countries in which they are based. According to the IMF, the current legal framework "provides for a high degree of confidentiality and for income tax exemption. In early 2001 the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), supported by European and North American governments, named St. Kitts and Nevis, among other Caribbean countries, as a suspected location of financial irregularities. The government has agreed to close loopholes in its legal and regulatory structures about offshore financial transactions. There are several dozen banks and other businesses based in St. Kitts-Nevis, but they provide little local employment, as most business is conducted electronically. Details as to customer identity and the value of deposits are well-kept secrets.
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At a Glance
GDP: purchasing power parity - $726 million (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,200 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.5% industry: 25.8% services: 70.7%(2001)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.7% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 18,172 (June 1995)
Unemployment rate: 4.5% (1997)
Budget: revenues: $64.1 million
expenditures: $73.3 million, including capital expenditures of $10.4 million (1997 est.)
Industries: sugar processing, tourism, cotton, salt, copra, clothing, footwear, beverages
Electricity - production: 125 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1998)
Electricity - consumption: 116.3 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2005)
Agriculture - products: sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish
Exports: $42 million (1998)
Exports - commodities: machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco
Exports - partners: US 61.9%, Canada 9.4%, Netherlands 6.6%, Azerbaijan 5% (2006)
Imports: $383 million (2006)
Imports - commodities: machinery, manufactures, food, fuels
Imports - partners: US 49.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 13.3%, UK 4.5% (2006)
Debt - external: $314 million (2004)
Economic aid - recipient: $3.52 million (2005)
Currency: 1 East Caribbean dollar (EC$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003)
Fiscal year: calendar year
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References
- CIA World Factbook - St. Kitts and Nevis. Retrieved on September 6, 2006.
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