Guatemala

From Mises Wiki, the global repository of classical-liberal thought
Jump to: navigation, search
Country summary

Capital

Guatemala City

Borders

Belize 266 km, El Salvador 203 km, Honduras 256 km, Mexico 962 km

Government type

constitutional democratic republic

Population

13,276,517 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

2.066% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

70.29 years[1]

Unemployment

3.2% (2005 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

83[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

84[3]

Doing Business ranking

110[4]


The Mayan civilization flourished in Guatemala and surrounding regions during the first millennium A.D. After almost three centuries as a Spanish colony, Guatemala won its independence in 1821. During the second half of the 20th century, it experienced a variety of military and civilian governments, as well as a 36-year guerrilla war. In 1996, the government signed a peace agreement formally ending the conflict, which had left more than 100,000 people dead and had created, by some estimates, some 1 million refugees.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Quetzal (ISO code: GTQ)
  • Central bank discount rate: NA%[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 13.39% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $6.106 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $9.7 billion (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

  • Banking crisis: 1991, 2001, 2006[5]
  • Years in inflation: 3.5% (share of years 1838-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
  • Public default: 1828-1856, 1876-1888, 1894, 1899-1913, 1933-1936, 1986, 1989 (external)[6]

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 18 317 19 291 18 703 20 777 21 918 23 965 27 211 30 231 34 031 38 983
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 13.470 16.984 19.947 18.394 20.711 21.786 21.262 21.877 21.688 20.136
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 10.324 10.154 11.992 12.492 12.248 12.118 11.748 12.501 12.676 11.907
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 10.518 10.940 13.186 12.774 14.346 12.670 12.834 13.012 12.487 11.730
Debt to revenue (years) 1.305 1.673 1.663 1.472 1.691 1.798 1.810 1.750 1.711 1.691

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Guatemala", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Guatemala", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  3. ↑ Transparency International. "Guatemala", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  4. ↑ Doing Business. "Guatemala", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  5. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 366. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 55. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "Guatemala: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "Guatemala: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "Guatemala: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  10. ↑ World Bank. "Guatemala: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.

Links

Retrieved from "https://wiki.mises.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Guatemala&oldid=13521"