Palau

Economy - overview: The economy consists primarily of subsistence agriculture and fishing. The government is the major employer of the work force, relying heavily on financial assistance from the US. The population, in effect, enjoys a per capita income of $5,000, twice that of the Philippines and much of Micronesia. Long-run prospects for the tourist sector have been greatly bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific and the rapidly rising prosperity of leading East Asian countries. Reducing budgeted operating expenditures - which have increased 56% from 1989 to 1993 - will be the biggest challenge for the government over the next several years. GDP: purchasing power parity - $81.8 million (1994 est.) note: GDP numbers reflect US spending GDP - real growth rate: NA% GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,000 (1994 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA% Inflation rate - consumer price index: NA% Labor force: NA by occupation: NA Unemployment rate: NA% Budget: revenues : $21 million expenditures: $57 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.) Industries: tourism, craft items (from shell, wood, pearls), some commercial fishing and agriculture Industrial production growth rate: NA% Electricity - capacity: NA kW Electricity - production: NA kWh Electricity - consumption per capita: NA kWh Agriculture - products: coconuts, copra, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes Exports: total value: $600,000 (f.o.b., 1989) commodities: trochus (type of shellfish), tuna, copra, handicrafts partners: US, Japan Imports: total value : $24.6 million (c.i.f., 1989) commodities: NA partners: US Debt - external: about $100 million (1989) Economic aid: recipient: ODA, $NA note : the compact of "free association" with the US, entered into after the end of the UN trusteeship on 1 October 1994, will provide Palau with up to $700 million in US aid over 15 years in return for furnishing military facilities Currency: 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents Exchange rates: US currency is used Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September