Solomon Islands Economy 1997

Economy - overview The bulk of the population depend on subsistence agriculture, fishing,and forestry for at least part of their livelihood. Most manufactured goodsand petroleum products must be imported. The islands are rich in undevelopedmineral resources such as lead, zinc, nickel, and gold. The Government ofthe Solomon Islands is nearing financial insolvency. In mid-1995 the centralbank suspended interest and principal payments on government bonds and treasurybills held by financial institutions and the general public. The governmentso far has taken no steps to restrain expenditure or address the deficit,which is expected to be considerably higher than the $20 million forecastedin the 1996 budget.

GDP purchasing power parity - $1.2 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 4.5% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $3,000 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Inflation rate - consumer price index 10.4% (1996)

Labor force
total: 26,842
by occupation: services 41.5%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 23.7%, commerce,transport, and finance 21.7%, construction, manufacturing, and mining 13.1%(1992 est.)

Unemployment rate NA%

Budget
revenues: $147 million
expenditures: $168 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)

Industries copra, fish (tuna)

Industrial production growth rate NA%

Electricity - capacity 20,000 kW (1994)

Electricity - production 55 million kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita NA kWh

Agriculture - products cocoa, beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit;cattle, pigs; timber; fish

Exports
total value: $170 million (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities: timber, fish, palm oil, cocoa, copra
partners : Japan 39%, UK 23%, Thailand 9%, Australia 5%, US 2% (1991)

Imports
total value: $152 million (c.i.f., 1995 est.)
commodities: plant and machinery, manufactured goods, food and live animals, fuel
partners: Australia 34%, Japan 16%, Singapore 14%, NZ 9%

Debt - external $100 million (1995 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $8.625 million from Australia (FY96/97 est.); $3.3 million fromNZ (FY95/96)

Currency 1 Solomon Islands dollar (SI$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates Solomon Islands dollars (SI$) per US$1 - 3.7900 (November 1996), 3.4059(1995), 3.2914 (1994), 3.1877 (1993), 2.9281 (1992)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Solomon Islands on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Solomon Islands Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Solomon Islands Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.