Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua has a relatively high GDP per capita in
comparison to most other Caribbean nations. The economy experienced
solid growth from 2003 to 2007, reaching over 12% in 2006 driven by
a construction boom in hotels and housing associated with the
Cricket World Cup. Growth dropped off in 2008 with the end of the
boom. Tourism continues to dominate the economy, accounting for
nearly 60% of GDP and 40% of investment. The dual-island nation's
agricultural production is focused on the domestic market and
constrained by a limited water supply and a labor shortage stemming
from the lure of higher wages in tourism and construction.
Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for export with major
products being bedding, handicrafts, and electronic components.
Prospects for economic growth in the medium term will continue to
depend on tourist arrivals from the US, Canada, and Europe and
potential damages from natural disasters. Since taking office in
2004, the SPENCER government has adopted an ambitious fiscal reform
program, and has been successful in reducing its public debt-to-GDP
ratio from 120% to about 90%.
Arctic Ocean
Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of
natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
Argentina
Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly
literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a
diversified industrial base. Although one of the world's wealthiest
countries 100 years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th
century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and
current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt,
and capital flight. A severe depression, growing public and external
indebtedness, and a bank run culminated in 2001 in the most serious
economic, social, and political crisis in the country's turbulent
history. Interim President Adolfo RODRIGUEZ SAA declared a default -
the largest in history - on the government's foreign debt in
December of that year, and abruptly resigned only a few days after
taking office. His successor, Eduardo DUHALDE, announced an end to
the peso's decade-long 1-to-1 peg to the US dollar in early 2002.
The economy bottomed out that year, with real GDP 18% smaller than
in 1998 and almost 60% of Argentines under the poverty line. Real
GDP rebounded to grow by an average 9% annually over the subsequent
five years, taking advantage of previously idled industrial capacity
and labor, an audacious debt restructuring and reduced debt burden,
excellent international financial conditions, and expansionary
monetary and fiscal policies. Inflation also increased, however,
during the administration of President Nestor KIRCHNER, which
responded with price restraints on businesses, as well as export
taxes and restraints, and beginning in early 2007, with understating
inflation data. Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER succeeded her husband
as President in late 2007, but was stymied in her efforts to hike
export taxes still further by protesting farmers. Her government
nationalized private pension funds in late 2008, which bolstered
government coffers, but failed to assuage investors' concerns about
the direction of economic policy.
Armenia Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia has made progress in implementing many economic reforms including privatization, price reforms, and prudent fiscal policies. The conflict with Azerbaijan over the ethnic Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh contributed to a severe economic decline in the early 1990s. By 1994, however, the Armenian Government launched an ambitious IMF-sponsored economic liberalization program that resulted in positive growth rates. Economic growth has averaged over 10% in recent years. However, with the global economic downturn, Armenia's growth rate dropped to 6.8% in 2008. Armenia has managed to reduce poverty, slash inflation, stabilize its currency, and privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics, in exchange for raw materials and energy. Armenia has since switched to small-scale agriculture and away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. Nuclear power plants built at Metsamor in the 1970s were closed following the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, though they sustained no damage. One of the two reactors was re-opened in 1995, but the Armenian government is under international pressure to close it due to concerns that the Soviet era design lacks important safeguards. Metsamor provides 40 percent of the country's electricity - hydropower accounts for about one-fourth. Economic ties with Russia remain close, especially in the energy sector. The electricity distribution system was privatized in 2002 and bought by Russia's RAO-UES in 2005. Construction of a pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Armenia was completed in December 2008 and after testing is expected to be operational in Spring 2009, though it is unlikely significant quantities of gas will flow through it until the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant renovation is completed in 2010. Armenia has some mineral deposits (copper, gold, bauxite). Pig iron, unwrought copper, and other nonferrous metals are Armenia's highest valued exports. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been offset somewhat by international aid, remittances from Armenians working abroad, and foreign direct investment. Armenia joined the WTO in January 2003. The government made some improvements in tax and customs administration in recent years, but anti-corruption measures will be more difficult to implement. Despite strong economic growth, Armenia's unemployment rate remains high. Armenia will need to pursue additional economic reforms in order to improve its economic competitiveness and to build on recent improvements in poverty and unemployment, especially given its economic isolation from two of its nearest neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan. The disruption of rail transit into Armenia during the Georgia-Russia conflict in August 2008 highlighted how vulnerable Armenia's supply chains for key goods - such as gasoline - are to instances of regional instability.
Aruba
Tourism is the mainstay of the small open Aruban economy with
offshore banking and oil refining and storage also important. The
rapid growth of the tourism sector over the last decade has resulted
in a substantial expansion of other activities. Over 1.5 million
tourists per year visit Aruba with 75% of those from the US.
Construction continues to boom with hotel capacity five times the
1985 level. In addition, the country's oil refinery reopened in 1993
providing a major source of employment, foreign exchange earnings,
and growth. Tourist arrivals have rebounded strongly following a dip
after the 11 September 2001 attacks. The island experiences only a
brief low season. Hotel occupancy in 2004 averaged 80% compared to
68% throughout the rest of the Caribbean. The government has made
cutting the budget and trade deficits a high priority.
Ashmore and Cartier Islands
no economic activity
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most
heavily trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and
Western Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the
exploitation of natural resources, e.g., fishing, dredging of
aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and
natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).
Australia
Australia has an enviable, strong economy with a per
capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies.
Emphasis on reforms, low inflation, a housing market boom, and
growing ties with China have been key factors over the course of the
economy's 17 solid years of expansion. Robust business and consumer
confidence and high export prices for raw materials and agricultural
products fueled the economy in recent years, particularly in mining
states. Drought, robust import demand, and a strong currency pushed
the trade deficit up however, while infrastructure bottlenecks and a
tight labor market constrained growth in export volumes and stoked
inflation through mid-2008. The unwinding of the yen-based carry
trade in late 2008 has contributed to a weakening of the Australian
dollar. Tight global liquidity has challenged Australia's banking
sector, which relies heavily on international wholesale markets for
funding. The economy remains relatively healthy despite falling
export commodity prices. The government plans to counter slowing
growth in 2009 with fiscal stimulus efforts.
Austria
Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high
standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies,
especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a
sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed
agricultural sector. Following several years of solid foreign demand
for Austrian exports and record employment growth, the global
economic downturn in 2008 led to a recession that is likely to
persist through 2009. The government's stabilization measures could
increase the budget deficit to about 2.8% of GDP in 2009 and above
3% in 2010, from about 0.6% in 2008. The Austrian economy has
benefited greatly in the past from strong commercial relations,
especially in the banking and insurance sectors, with central,
eastern, and southeastern Europe, but these sectors have been
vulnerable to recent international financial instabilities, and some
of Austria's largest banks have required government support. Even
after the global economic outlook improves, Austria will need to
continue restructuring, emphasizing knowledge-based sectors of the
economy, and encouraging greater labor flexibility and greater labor
participation to offset its aging population and exceedingly low
fertility rate.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan's high economic growth during 2006-08 is
attributable to large and growing oil exports, but the non-energy
sector also featured double-digit growth in 2008, spurred by growth
in the construction, banking, and real estate sectors. However, the
current global economic slowdown presents some challenges for the
Azerbaijani economy as oil prices have plummeted since mid-2008 and
local banks face a more uncertain international financial
environment. Azerbaijan's oil production declined through 1997, but
has registered an increase every year since. Negotiation of
production-sharing arrangements (PSAs) with foreign firms, which
have committed $60 billion to long-term oilfield development, should
generate the funds needed to spur future industrial development. Oil
production under the first of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan
International Operating Company, began in November 1997. A
consortium of Western oil companies built a $4 billion pipeline from
Baku to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan which will pump 1.2
million barrels a day from a large offshore field when at full
capacity. Azerbaijan shares all the formidable problems of the
former Soviet republics in making the transition from a command to a
market economy, but its considerable energy resources brighten its
medium-term prospects. Baku has only recently begun making progress
on economic reform, and old economic ties and structures are slowly
being replaced. Several other obstacles impede Azerbaijan's economic
progress: the need for stepped up foreign investment in the
non-energy sector, the continuing conflict with Armenia over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region, pervasive corruption, and potential for a
sharp downturn in the construction and real estate sectors. Trade
with Russia and the other former Soviet republics is declining in
importance, while trade is building with Turkey and the nations of
Europe. Long-term prospects will depend on world oil prices, the
location of new oil and gas pipelines in the region, and
Azerbaijan's ability to manage its energy wealth to promote
sustainable growth in non-energy sectors of the economy and spur
employment.