This first edition of our Country Profile has been produced by the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Suriname. The Profile provides an overall picture of the Surinamese economy with graphs and tables covering up to 10 years of economic and financial data. Various international comparisons are also included to help place Suriname’s economic developments in a broader regional context.

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In the Preface, Governor Gillmore Hoefdraad mentions that the publication of this Profile fits in the Central Bank of Suriname’s endeavor to disseminate high quality information and statistical data on the Surinamese economy to the local and international community, and to increase the availability, accuracy, and transparency of economic data on Suriname.

Commenting on the state of the economy in the past years, Governor Hoefdraad says:

“The Surinamese economy has demonstrated remarkable resilience in recent years with a stable and growth-oriented policy mix underpinning a steady pace of economic activity. Investment and growth prospects remain strong. We are confident that this publication will evidence the strength of the Surinamese economy and provide useful insights to the reader.”

In the span of 13 months Suriname has received four times a credit rating upgrade from all three large international credit rating bureaus. The major achievements on the external debt and exchange rate front, as well as the new course set to macroeconomic management in early 2011, were being recognized as Fitch improved its rating for Suriname from B to B+ in July 2011 and Standard & Poor’s upgraded the outlook from B+ to BB- in August 2011. As progress continued on these fronts, sustained fiscal discipline was also being taken into account, leading to an improved sovereign debt outlook.

Just after one year, Fitch upgraded Suriname by another step to BB- in July 2012. On August 14, 2012, Moody's Investors Service upgraded the foreign currency rating of the government of Suriname to Ba3 and changed the outlook from stable to positive.

The Central Bank of Suriname is satisfied with these international acknowledgements and will continue on a path of prudent macroeconomic policy. In this regard, the Central Bank will for example support new legislation on a Surinamese Sovereign Wealth Fund and contribute to legislation on other important issues such as credit registration and an investment law.

In 2012 inflation was significantly lower than in 2011 (figure 1). The annual average inflation was 5.0%, while the 12-month figure dropped from 15.3% at end 2011 to 4.4 % at end 2012. Early last year, the Central Bank had announced a policy target of between 5% and 6%, which has thus been achieved. The policy anchor is maintained at 5% or less for 2013.

Read more: CENTRAL BANK AFFAIRS: Inflation 2012 target achieved

In 2012 the Central Bank of Suriname removed 170 falsified Surinamese dollar bills out of circulation. In recent years large quantities of counterfeit bills have been intercepted. The majority are imitations of bills from the emissions that have been issued before end-2010. In comparison, the new bills that have been brought into circulation from November 2010 onwards appear less subject to falsification. Only 36 bills that were representations of the new bills have been detected.

Read more: CENTRAL BANK AFFAIRS: Less counterfeit money