Caribbean Region: Review of Economic Growth and ... - USITC

Belize: Selected social development indicatorsMRY(2000–07)Middleincomeaverage,2006Population (thousands, 2006) 297 32,183Population below poverty line(%, 2002) 34 naPoverty headcount ratio at $1per day (PPP, % of population)nanaLife expectancy at birth, 2005 72 70Literacy rate, total (%, 2000) 77 90Population with access toimproved sanitation facilities(%, 2004)Population with access toimproved water source (%,2004)47 6291 83Sources: World Development Indicators; CIA World Factbook.See appendix D for sources and definitions.Note: MRY=most recent year for which data are available; na= “not available.”Source: World Development Indicators. See appendix D forsources and definitions.Note: MIA = Middle income average for 2005.The World Bank classifies Belize as an upper-middle-income economy. Belize’s GDP growth has averagedabout 4 percent since 2002. Recent economic growth has been associated with increased exports andexpansionary fiscal policies. The discovery of oil in 2006 also contributed to economic growth in 2006 and2007. GDP growth is expected to slow in 2007 as a result of the impact of Hurricanes Dean and Felix, theleveling off of oil production, and the partial closure of an apparel factory.Although the Belize economy has traditionally relied on agriculture (particularly bananas, sugar, and citrus),the economy has undergone gradual diversification toward services, and more recently oil production.Belize’s most important industries are tourism and agriculture, and the government of Belize has madedevelopment of its tourism industry a top priority. The economy is also susceptible to frequent devastatinghurricanes.As a result of expansionary policies and expenditures related to posthurricane damage, Belize’s public debtrelative to GDP increased to more than 100 percent in 2004. The government implemented fiscal reformsin 2005, but concerns about the sustainability of the debt led the government to restructure nearly all of itspublic external commercial debt in February 2007. Belize’s external public debt remains one of the highestin the region at approximately 85 percent. Among the government’s priorities are foreign debt sustainability,reducing poverty, and the high unemployment rate, and dealing with increased drug trafficking, increasingurban crime, and increasing HIV/AIDS infections.2Belize ranked 80th out of 177 countries in the United Nations 2007–08 human development index, placingBelize in the “medium human development” category. Expansion of rural health care access has been a focus2See app. D for a definition of the human development index.4-30