A decade ago, Nicaragua's sluggish
economy relied primarily on agricultural exports, including coffee and beef.
But during the past 10 years, Nicaragua has cultivated its longest run of
political and economic stability since 1979. The country has leveraged its low
wages and preferential trade with the United States to attract investment into
clothing factories, helping the country's export revenue quadruple between 2007
and 2014. And high oil prices enabled Venezuela to subsidize Nicaragua's
domestic spending and fuel imports through the Petrocaribe alliance, giving
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega more leeway in economic planning. Despite
occasional bouts of political protest and confrontation between supporters of
the government and the opposition, politically motivated violence has been
relatively minimal. But with falling global oil prices and the subsequent
decline of Venezuelan foreign assistance, Nicaragua's fortunes could soon
change. More…
No comments:
Post a Comment