A. COUNTRY DATA 1. Profile -Population 404,800 (1992) -Population Growth Rate 0.1 percent (1992) -Religion(s) Suriname's religions reflect the varied ethnic makeup of the country. The leading Christian denominations include, Catholics, Moravians, Lutherans and a variety of Protestant evangelical groups. There is a substantial Hindu population (among the East Indian/ Hindustani population) and a large Moslem community (centered in the Javanese population). Suriname also has a small Jewish community and practitioners of a variety of traditional religions, mostly in the interior. -Government System Suriname is an independent, democratic state. The National Assembly is elected by popular vote and the President is elected by the National Assembly or by an assembly of all elected officials. There is also an independent judiciary. -Languages The official language is Dutch. A Creole language, Sranan Tongo, is widely used. In addition, Surinamese Hindi and Surinamese Javanese are spoken by people from those ethnic groups. The traditional groups of the interior, both Maroon and Amerindian speak their own languages. English is spoken by most educated people. -Work Week The work week is Monday through Friday and Saturday morning. 2. Domestic Economy Recent economic statistics for Suriname are not available. The following is drawn from the most recent Surinamese and IMF statistics. -Gross Domestic Product (millions of Surinamese guilders) (1) 1989 1990 1991 1992 2755 3099 3441 4360 -Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate (1992) (percent) (2) -2.2 -Gross Domestic Product Per Capita, 1992 $5924 (3)(4) -Government Spending as a Percent of GDP (3) 1989 1990 1991 1992 30.5 24.9 29.2 31.8 -Inflation (Percent) 1990 (1) 1991 (1) 1992 (1) 1993 (2) 22 26 44 292 -Unemployment (Percent), 1992 (1) 15 -Foreign Exchange Reserves (millions of U.S. dollars) (3) 1989 1990 1991 1992 75.5 101.2 72.4 44.6 -Average Exchange Rate for USD 1.00 (1) 1991 1992 1993 1994 Official 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 Parallel 17 25 47 (2) 200 (2) -Foreign Debt (millions of U.S. dollars) (3) 1989 1990 1991 1992 216.4 228.7 261.9 287.4 -Debt Service Ratio Not available -U.S. Economic/Military Assistance (millions of U.S. dollars) (2) 1991 1992 1993 1994 0 7 3 5 3. Trade (millions of U.S. dollars) (1) -Total 1989 1990 1991 1992 Exports 558.3 508.9 403.9 400.0 Imports 606.6 603.4 656.1 594.6 -U.S. (3) Exports 206.0 220.7 227.4 225.2 Imports 83.2 62.8 63.5 62.9 -U.S. Share of Suriname Imports (Percent) (3) 43.8 41.0 40.1 41.6 -Imports of Manufactured Goods from the U.S. (millions of U.S. dollars) (5) 1991 1992 1993 71.4 67.4 59.7 -Imports of Agricultural Goods from the U.S. (millions of U.S. dollars) (5) 1991 1992 1993 9.3 11.7 9.8 -Principal U.S. Exports (millions of U.S. dollars) (5) 1991 1992 1993 2815 (Sodium hydroxide) 28.9 23.2 12.4 3801 (Artificial graphite) 6.6 6.5 7.4 8466 (Machine tool parts) 3.9 3.2 4.3 1001 (Wheat) 2.5 4.9 4.2 8701 (Tractors) 3.2 3.7 3.6 -Principal U.S. Imports (millions of U.S. dollars) (5) 1991 1992 1993 2818 (Alumina) 47.8 38.6 49.0 0302 (Fresh fish) 1.2 2.2 1.8 3002 (Human/animal blood) 0 0 1.6 0303 (Frozen fish) 0.5 0.9 1.0 0304 (Fresh fish fillets) 0.5 0.9 0.9 1. Multi-year Development Program 1994-1998, Surinamese Ministry of Planning, September, 1993 2. Embassy estimate 3. IMF 4. The IMF converts the Surinamese guilder figure (10,771) at the official exchange rate (approx. SF1.8:USD1). The average illegal parallel rate in 1992, at which most transactions take place, was SF25:USD1, so that the real GDP per capita is substantially less than the USD 5924 calculated by the IMF. 5. U.S. Department of Commerce