The economy of Suriname was largely dependent upon the exports of aluminium oxide and small amounts of aluminium produced from bauxite mined in the country. However, after the departure of Alcoa, the economy depended on the exports of crude oil and gold. Suriname was ranked the 124th safest investment destination in the world in the March 2011 Euromoney Country Risk rankings.[11]
A member of CARICOM, Suriname also exports in small numbers rice, shrimp, timber, bananas, fruits, and vegetables. Fernandes Group is a soft drinks company bottled by Coca-Cola world-wide.[12]
Other agricultural products of Suriname palm kernels, coconuts, peanuts; beef, chickens; forest products; shrimp.
In 2018, Suriname produced 273 thousand tons of rice, 125 thousand tons of sugar cane, in addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products, such as banana (48 thousand tons), orange (19 thousand tons) and coconut (14 thousand tons).[13]
Some big companies are getting the hardwood out of the jungle. However, proposals for exploitation of the country's tropical forests and undeveloped regions of the interior traditionally inhabited by indigenous and Maroon communities have raised the concerns of environmentalists and human rights activists both in Suriname and abroad. These opposing parties are not yet strong in Suriname.
State-owned banana producer Surland closed its doors on April 5, 2002, after its inability to meet payroll expenses for the second month in a row; it is still unclear if Surland will survive this crisis.[14]
Th banana producer Surland was remodeled as Stichting Behoud Bananen Sector Suriname (SBBS). The rumour was that because of political differences Surland was manipulated in shutting down. The SBBS has made banana profitable for the first time in 20 years.[15] There is also wide production of plantains in Suriname.
Gold
Currently gold exports make up 60-80% of all exports earnings. In 2021 the gold industry accounted for 8.5% of the GDP. The share of large-scale mining in total gold production is 58% compared to 42% of small-scale mining.[16] With an export value of USD 1.83 billion in 2023, the gold sector makes an important contribution to the economy.[17]
The backbone of Suriname's economy was the export of aluminium oxide (alumina) and small amounts of aluminium produced from bauxite mined in the country. In 1999, the aluminium smelter at Paranam was closed.[18] In November 2015 Suralco ceased the mining of bauxite completely.[19]
The exploration and exploitation of oil adds substantially to the economy of Suriname at about 10% of the GDP.[20] The national oil company, STAATSOLIE, is the motor behind Suriname's oil industry. Their core business is oil extraction and refining.
In 2012 STAATSOLIE produced 16,200 barrels (2,580 m3) a day.[21] Staatsolie currently refines 16,500 barrels a day at Tout Lui Faut refinery in the District of Wanica. Furthermore, they own a 96 MW powerplant and a 189 MW hydro powerplant. They also have their own retail gas stations under their Gow2 brand. They also claim to be a well-established bunker supplier in the Caribbean region.[22]
In 2022 they made a revenue of USD 840 million. In that year their contribution to the state treasury was USD 320 million. In 2023 they made a revenue of USD 722 million. The drop in revenue was because of the lower price for oil per barrel that year. Their contribution to the Surinamese state treasury was USD 335 million.
Other players in the off-shore oil industry in Suriname are Total Energies, Apache, Shell and Petronas. These companies have signed product sharing contracts with STAATSOLIE for the exploration and extraction of off-shore oil. The first of these contracts was signed in 2015. [23] In 2023 they signed three more of such contracts. [24]
In 2020 the first off-shore oil was found. Currently STAATSOLIE, local partners and Surinamese companies, as well as the Surinamese government are actively anticipating on the development of the off-shore oil industry. [25][26][27] The first production will start with the development of oil block 58 in 2028 [28]in which STAATSOLIE has a share of 20%.[29] It's projected that Suriname will make around USD 7 billion in the first five production years. [30]
Moreover, in January 2002, the government renego STAATSOLIE and other local players are anticipating on the development of the off-shore oil industry.[31]tiated civil servant wages (a significant part of the work force and a significant portion of government expenditure), agreeing to raises as high as 100%. Pending implementation of these wage increases and concerned that the government may be unable to meet these increased expenses, the local currency weakened from Sf 2200 in January 2002 to nearly Sf 2500 in April 2002. On March 26, 2003, the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) adjusted the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar. This action resulted in further devaluation of the Surinamese guilder. The official exchange rate of the US$ was SF 2,650 for selling and SF 2,600 for purchasing. With the official exchange rate, the CBvS came closer to the exchange rate on the parallel market which sold the U.S. dollar for SF 3,250.
With the beginning of 2004 the Surinamese dollar (SRD) was introduced with an exchange rate of 1000 Surinamese gulden to 1 Surinamese dollar. Before 2004: Surinamese gulden (SRG) = 100 cent, SRD 1 = SRG 1000; coins had extremely low official value and a much higher collector's value; their official value has now been multiplied by 1000: the value in SRD cent is equal to the former value in SRG cent. The same applies for "currency notes" (SRG 1 and 2.50).
Surinamese guilders per US dollar - 2,346.75 (2002), 2,178.5 (2001), 1,322.47 (2000), 859.44 (1999), 401 (1998)
Note: during 1998, the exchange rate splintered into four distinct rates; in January 1999 the government floated the guilder, but subsequently fixed it when the black-market rate plunged; the government then allowed trading within a band of SRG 500 around the official rate
Between 2004 and 2022, the value of the new Surinamese dollar (SRD) was set by the central bank. The Central Bank of Suriname spent much of Suriname's foreign currency reserves supporting the official exchange rates as inflation and other factors caused the real value of the Surinamese dollar to decline against other reserve currencies. As with the previous Surinamese guilder, the difference between the official exchange rate and the decreasing real value of the currency allowed black market currency trading to thrive. In June 2021, the central bank devalued the SRD by 33% and announced the currency would float freely.[32] By June 2022, official exchange rates began to reflect the real floating exchange rate.[33]
As of February 2021, Suriname's external debt stands at US$4 billion. Of this amount, the nation sought to restructure a total of US$675 million in loans. Suriname retained French investment bank Lazard to act as its financial advisor during the restructuring.[34]
The Suriname Stock Exchange (SSX) is the stock exchange of Suriname. The exchange was established in 1994 by the Association for Securities Trading in Suriname (VvES), founded on January 1, 1994.[35] Stock trading does not occur daily but twice a month on the first and third Thursday. There are twelve companies listed on the exchange.[36]
There are several Chambers of Commerce that are supporting the economy. The general Chamber of Commerce and Factories (KKF) is located in Paramaribo. It was founded on 1 May 1910 and has nearly 30,000 members in 2019 that provide more than 150,000 jobs.[37] Next to that, there are several international Chambers. One of them is the Suriname-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce that is established at the embassy of Suriname in The Hague. At the Chamber it is possible to found a Surinamese company in the Netherlands.[38][39] Furthermore there is a Suriname-Guyana Chamber of Commerce,[40] a Suriname-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry[41] and a Ghana-Suriname Chamber of Commerce.[42]
In 2021 the government of Suriname founded the Suriname Investment and Trade Agency (SITA) to support international investments in Suriname and exports of Surinamese products abroad.[43]
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates for 2020–2028). Inflation below 5% is in green.[44]
Here follows the energy statistics of Suriname.[45]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.