St. Vincent

St. Vincent's small size and openness - compounded by the existence of a volcano; the country's location along a major earthquake fault and in the Atlantic hurricane belt - indicate vulnerability to economic shocks (internal and external).

Poverty has increased considerably despite a favourable economic showing over the last 20 years. An analysis of the economic performance reveals that growth in the economy has not fostered the sustainable human development of the populace

• Some productive sectors, particularly manufacturing, have proven unreliable in income generation and employment;
• Economic growth over 1990 ' 2000 has been slower and more volatile than in the previous decade;
• The loss of preferential access to the EU market, together with the weak domestic market, in an economy heavily dependent on the banana industry, created significant unemployment in rural communities.

In the past decade there has thus been a tendency to restructure the economy to make it more diversified, placing greater emphasis on the service sectors ' tourism and financial services.

More recently, growth has come more from construction, wholesale and retail, communications, banks and the insurance sectors, while the agricultural sector experienced further decline. Bananas, traditionally, the largest foreign exchange earner has been displaced by tourism.

The Government of St. Vincent expressed concern regarding the unacceptably high levels of poverty and unemployment as well as the worsened skewed pattern of income distribution within the country. Reflective of its commitment to good governance the current administration of St. Vincent has taken the decision to launch a war on poverty, illiteracy, inadequate housing, disease, poor health and an unhealthy environment, all to be addressed through the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).

The overreaching development objective in SVG is to attain high levels of sustainable growth and development, while reducing the levels of poverty. To achieve this, the Public Sector union has recognized the need for fiscal stabilization and that the PRS should strive to assist in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set for the country.

Recommendations made thus far for the PRS for SVG include:

• Promotion of public participation in social policy, development and poverty reduction
• Constitutional reform and governance in the context of an integrated policy environment
• Institutional reform
• Priority interventions and programmes