Nicaragua,
with Honduras, was one of the countries most touched by the
Mitch hurricane at the end of October 1998. Before the floods
caused by the hurricane, there was the dryness of with the
climatic effect del Niño in 1997. In more of the personal
damage and infrastructures, the catastrophe destroyed harvests
what is disastrous for a country as Nicaragua whose principal
economic activity is agriculture. The country was in lack
of food and the imbalance of its foreign trade stopped its
process of economic recovery and caused an important inflation.
The principal agricultural produce is the corn, the sorghum
and the beans. In more Nicaragua exports cotton, coffee, sugar,
bananas and meat. Agriculture employs the two fifths of the
population but represents a quarter of Gross domestic product
country. Although the principal industrial sectors were nationalized
after the revolution of 1979, they were again privatisés
since 1990, under the Presidency of Violeta Chamorro. As of
its arrival with the capacity, the United States withdrew
the economic sanctions which were imposed on the mode Sandinista,
and in more Nicaragua obtained financial assistances of the
IMF with the proviso of adopting a program of economic readjustment.
Nicaraguan industry is based on the raw material transformation,
as refined sugar, the products derived from oil, the chemicals,
cigarettes and cigars, articles in skin, textiles, cements
and plastics. The largest richnesses of its small mining industry
are gold, copper and the money. In more of the already quoted
agricultural produce, Nicaragua exports gold and textiles.
N the other hand, it imports minerals, fuels, produced for
its industry and of the goods of equipment for transport.
Its principal trade partners are the United States (30,2%
of its imports and 41,9% of its exports), Mexico, Spain, El
Salvador, Chile, Canada, Germany, Taiwan and Japan. Nicaragua
is member of the Common Market of Central America, the Inter-American
Bank of Development and has just signed a commercial treaty
free with Chile.
