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Concept
Economy of Jamaica
Summary
The economy of Jamaica is heavily reliant on services, accounting for 70% of the country's GDP. Jamaica has natural resources and a climate conducive to agriculture and tourism. The discovery of bauxite in the 1940s and the subsequent establishment of the bauxite-alumina industry shifted Jamaica's economy from sugar, and bananas.
Weakness in the financial sector, speculation, and lower levels of investment erode confidence in the productive sector. The government continues its efforts to raise new sovereign debt in local and international financial markets in order to meet its U.S. dollar debt obligations, to mop up liquidity to maintain the exchange rate and to help fund the current budget deficit.
The Jamaican government's economic policies encourage foreign investment in areas that earn or save foreign exchange, generate employment, and use local raw materials. The government also provides a wide range of incentives to investors.
Free trade zones have stimulated investment in garment assembly, light manufacturing, and data entry by foreign firms. However, over the last 5 years, the garment industry has suffered from reduced export earnings, continued factory closures, and rising unemployment. The Government of Jamaica hopes to encourage economic activity through a combination of privatization, financial sector restructuring, reduced interest rates, and by boosting tourism and related productive activities.
Before independence, Jamaica's economy was largely focused on agriculture with the vast majority of the labor force engaged in the production of sugar, bananas, and tobacco. According to one study, 18th century Jamaica had the highest wealth inequality in the world, as a very small, slave-owning elite was extremely wealthy while the rest of the population lived on the edge of subsistence.
These products were mainly exported to the United Kingdom, Canada, and to the United States of America. Jamaica's trade relationships expanded substantially from 1938 to 1946, with total imports almost doubling from £6,485,000 to £12,452,000.
Official source
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