The Dominican Republic is a middle-income developing country primarily dependent on agriculture, trade, and services, especially tourism. Although the service sector has recently overtaken agriculture as the leading employer of Dominicans (due principally to growth in tourism and Free Trade Zones), agriculture remains the most important sector in terms of domestic consumption and is in second place (behind mining) in terms of export earnings. Tourism accounts for more than $1 billion in annual earnings. Free Trade Zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. According to a 1999 International Monetary Fund report, remittances from Dominican Americans, are estimated to be about $1.5 billion per year. Most of these funds are used to cover basic household needs such as shelter, food, clothing, health care and education. Secondarily, remittances have financed small businesses and other productive activities.^[1] The peso oro is the base currency of the Dominican Republic. ... For other uses of the initials WTO, see WTO (disambiguation). ... Map of world GDP (PPP) by country using the IMF list for 2005 There are three lists of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP) (the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Map of countries showing percentage of population who have an income below the national poverty line The poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Tourists at Oahu island, Hawaii Tourism is the act of travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes, and also refers to the provision of services in support of this act. ... This article is about the type of fabric. ... In the most general sense of the word, cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. ... Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... This article, image, template or category should belong in one or more categories. ... Tourists at Oahu island, Hawaii Tourism is the act of travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes, and also refers to the provision of services in support of this act. ... Free trade zones, also called free trade areas or export processing zones, designate either parts of a country or groups of countries that have agreed to eliminate tariffs, quotas and preferences on most goods between them. ... The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by observing exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering financial and technical assistance when requested. ... Income, generally defined, is the money that is received as a result of the normal business activities of an individual or a business. ... A Dominican American[1] is an immigrant or descendant of immigrants from the Dominican Republic to the United States. ...

Overview

Following economic turmoil in the late 1980s and 1990, during which the GDP fell by up to 5% and consumer price inflation reached an unprecedented 100%, the Dominican Republic entered a period of moderate growth and declining inflation until 2002 after which the economy entered a recession, after the second commercial bank of the country collapsed, caused by a major fraud. GDP dropped by 1% in 2003 while inflation balooned by over 27%.

Despite a widening merchandise trade deficit, tourism earnings and remittances have helped build foreign exchange reserves. The Dominican Republic is current on foreign private debt, and has agreed to pay arrears of about $130 million to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation. Arrears, or arrearages is a legal term for the type of debt accrued after missing an expected payment. ...

The government faces several economic policy challenges--high real interest rates, fiscal imbalances caused by money-losing public enterprises and poor tax-collection rates, and reducing dependence on taxes on international trade. Years of tariff protection for domestic production have left the economy vulnerable in a rapidly integrating global economy. The deteriorating non-free trade zone merchandise trade balance is in part due to the failure of the exchange rate to reflect inflationary trends in the 1993-1995 period. A tariff is a tax on foreign goods. ...

In December 1996, incoming President Leonel Fernández presented a bold reform package for this Caribbean economy - including the devaluation of the peso, income tax cuts, a 50% increase in sales taxes, reduced import tariffs, and increased gasoline prices - in an attempt to create a market-oriented economy that can compete internationally. Even though most reforms are stalled in the legislature - including the intellectual property rights bill, social security reform, and a new electricity law first submitted in 1993 - the economy has grown vigorously under Fernandez's administration. Construction, tourism and telecommunications are leading the advance. The government is working to increase electric generating capacity, a key to continued economic growth; the state electricity company was finally privatized following numerous delays. Resumption of a badly needed IMF loan, slowed by government repurchase of electrical power plants, is basic to the restoration of social and economic stability. In mid-2004 re-elected President Fernandez promised belt-tightening reform. His administration has passed tax reform and arranged a $600 million IMF standby arrangement in March 2005 to ease the country's fiscal situation. Although the economy continues to grow at a respectable rate, inflation and unemployment remain the two biggest challenges.^[2] Dr. Leonel Antonio Fernández Reyna (born 26 December 1953) is a Dominican politician and the current president of the Dominican Republic. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Statistics

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.1%

highest 10%: 37.9% (2003)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 27.5% (2003)

Electricity - production: 9,186 GWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 72.04%

hydro: 27.62%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0.34% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 8,543 GWh (2001)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs

Exchange rates: Dominican pesos (RD$) per US$1 - 32.88 (July 2006), 46.151 (February 2004), 18.609 (2002), 16.161 (January 2000), 16.033 (1999), 15.267 (1998), 14.265 (1997), 13.775 (1996), 13.597 (1995)

Fiscal year:

Notes

See also

• Dominican Republic
• List of Dominican companies