Nicaragua

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Country summary

Capital

Managua

Borders

Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km

Government type

republic

Population

5,891,199 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

1.784% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

71.5 years[1]

Unemployment

8.2% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

98[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

130[3]

Doing Business ranking

117[4]


The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Free elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated, but voting in 2006 announced the return of former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra. The 2008 municipal elections were characterized by widespread irregularities. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt, but democratic institutions face new challenges under the ORTEGA administration.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Córdoba (ISO code: NIO)
  • Central bank discount rate: NA%[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 13.17% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $507.5 million (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $1.81 billion (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

  • Banking crisis: 1987-1996, 2000-2002[5]
  • Hyperinflation: 1985-1990
  • Years in inflation: 12.2% (share of years 1838-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
  • Public default: 1828-1874, 1894-1895, 1911-1912, 1915-1917, 1932-1937, 1979-2009 (external), 1985-1990 (domestic)[6]

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 3 742 3 936 4 103 4 026 4 102 4 467 4 856 5 301 5 726 6 592
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 15.228 15.089 13.861 14.925 16.384 17.189 18.106 18.804 19.479 18.376
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 16.456 16.469 18.704 15.831 17.065 16.768 17.862 19.239 19.049 19.600
Debt to revenue (years)

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. "Nicaragua", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Nicaragua", 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. "Nicaragua", 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. "Nicaragua", 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. 376. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  6. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 82. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "Nicaragua: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "Nicaragua: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "Nicaragua: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  10. ↑ World Bank. "Nicaragua: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.

Links

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