Suriname is a small commodity-based economy that depends heavily on the export revenues from crude oil, gold, rice, fish, timber, and bananas. In 2022, the top import countries were the United States, the Netherlands, Trinidad, China and Japan. The top export countries in 2022, were the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Suriname’s GDP per capita is $5,853 (2022), and the World Bank ranks it as an upper middle-income country. Suriname has undergone a gold rush in recent years, and in 2020, hydrocarbons were discovered offshore, signaling an emerging oil & gas industry that could involve U.S. energy companies. On September 13, 2023, Total Energies announced the launch of a $9 billion offshore oil project in Suriname. A Final Investment Decision is expected at the end of 2024, with a “first production” target for 2028. Suriname’s government is looking to increase commercial ties between U.S. and Surinamese companies and has begun to make more infrastructure projects available to outside bidders. In June 2021, the Central Bank of Surname ended its fixed exchange rate policy and allowed the Suriname Dollar (SRD) to float at market rates. On December 22, 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $688 million 36-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility for Suriname. The IMF financial arrangement will support the government’s economic recovery plan to restore fiscal sustainability, bring public debt down to sustainable levels, upgrade the monetary and exchange rate policy framework, stabilize the financial system, and strengthen institutional capacity to tackle corruption and money laundering, and improve governance.
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