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Seychelles Foreign Trade
Seychelles has experienced recurrent foreign exchange
problems because of its limited export potential and
fluctuations
in tourist traffic. Growing national income has been
accompanied
by pressures for increased imports of manufactured
consumer goods
that cannot be produced domestically. In 1991 the
government took
measures to restrain imports, and in 1992 it imposed
surcharges
on luxury goods, in addition to taking other actions to
restrict
domestic spending.
Until 1987 the nation's principal export was fresh and
frozen
fish, followed by high-quality copra, for which Pakistan,
the
leading importer, paid premium prices. Cinnamon bark and
shark
fins were the only other exports of consequence.
Reexports,
mainly of tourist-related duty-free items and petroleum
products
for aircraft and ships, were considerably higher than
earnings
from merchandise exports. From 1987 onward, canned tuna
dominated
the islands' export trade. With a value of SRe64.1
million,
canned tuna constituted 73 percent of all domestic exports
in
1991. Fresh and frozen fish exports brought SRe17.7
million, but
copra and cinnamon had shrunk to insignificant levels.
France had been the principal destination of Seychelles
exports for many years, sometimes absorbing more than 60
percent
of the islands' products. In 1991 the Seychelles trade
pattern
shifted sharply in favor of Britain (52.7 percent of total
exports), followed by France (22.8 percent), and Reunion
(13.6
percent). Both Reunion and Mauritius are leading customers
for
frozen fish.
Seychelles imports a broad range of foods, manufactured
goods, machinery, and transportation equipment. The
largest
single category is petroleum fuels and lubricants,
although much
of this is reexported through servicing of ships and
aircraft.
Seychelles' main suppliers in 1991 were Bahrain, South
Africa,
Britain, Singapore, and France. Because of its high import
dependence, the country's visible trade is always heavily
in
deficit. In 1991 its total of domestic exports and
reexports
(SR258 million) was only 28 percent of total imports
(SR910
million). Gross receipts from tourism usually cover some
60
percent of imports but fall short of bridging the gap in
the
balance of payments. In 1993 Seychelles joined the
Preferential
Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa, which should
improve
its trade because of greater currency convertibility,
particularly with Mauritius.
Data as of August 1994
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