The economy of Antigua and Barbuda is service-based, with tourism and government services representing the key sources of employment and income.
Tourism accounts directly or indirectly for more than half of GDP and is also the principal earner of foreign exchange in Antigua and Barbuda.
However, a series of violent hurricanes since 1995 resulted in serious damage to tourist infrastructure and periods of sharp reductions in visitor numbers.
The dual island nation's agricultural production is mainly directed to the domestic market; the sector is constrained by the limited water supply and labor shortages that reflect the pull of higher wages in tourism and construction.
The ECCB also manages monetary policy, and regulates and supervises commercial banking activities in its member countries.
After fighting off the Caribs, Dutch, and French to stabilize their colonies, settlers grew tobacco, indigo, cotton, and ginger as cash crops.
As on many other Caribbean islands, sugar cultivation became the most profitable enterprise, quickly surpassing other crops in economic importance.
Even after the abolition of slavery in 1834, former slaves continued working in servitude due to laws designed to keep providing plantations with cheap labor.
Vegetables, including beans, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, plantains, squash, tomatoes, and yams, are grown mostly on small family plots for local markets.
The government has sought to increase grazing space and to improve stock, breeding Nelthropp cattle and Black Belly sheep.
Antiguans annually consume more fish per capita (46 kg/101.4 lb) per year live weight than any other nation or territory in the Caribbean.
Few of the islands' mineral resources, which included limestone, building stone, clay, and barite, were exploited until recently.
The industrial park, located in the Coolidge Area, produces a range of products such as paints, furniture, garments, and galvanized sheets, mainly for export.
Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of Antigua and Barbuda and is the leading sector in terms of providing employment and creating foreign exchange.
Figures released by the East Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in 2000 show that total visitor arrivals increased steadily from 470,975 in 1995 to 613,990 in 1998.
The AWU claimed the industry is on the decline because some airlines are pulling out of the country, and government was not spending enough money to promote tourism.
While the government has conceded that it was not spending enough on marketing because of cash flow problems, it has rejected the AWU's contention that the industry is in crisis.
This agreement came out of a conference in 1999 which urged worldwide offshore financial centers to introduce laws to tighten their policing of money laundering activities.
In September 2000 the government of Antigua and Barbuda announced that it had strengthened its surveillance of money laundering and drug trafficking.
In March 2009, the Stanford Financial Group, based in Antigua was found by regulators there and in the United States, of operating a massive ponzi scheme.
[citation needed] The retail sector is dominated by the sale of food and beverages, clothing and textiles, and vegetables.
Imports - commodities: food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, oil Imports - partners: US 21.1%, China 16.4%, Germany 13.3%, Singapore 12.7%, Spain 6.5% (2006) Debt - external: $359.8 million (June 2006) Economic aid - recipient: $7.23 million (2005) Currency: 1 East Caribbean dollar (EC$) = 100 cents Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2007), 2.7 (2007), 2.7 (2006), 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003) note: fixed rate since 1976 Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March ^These three form the SSS islands that with the ABC islands comprise the Dutch Caribbean, of which *the BES islands are not direct Kingdom constituents but subsumed with the country of the Netherlands.