According to The Economist’s Intelligence Unit, the Dominican economy will grow 6.5%; the annual per capita will increase from US$1,895 to US$2,005, average interest rates will be 27%. The services sector is the largest, with 62.4%, up from 62% in 1997. Farming will continue to decline, dropping from 14.9% to 14.4% of GDP in 1998. The Economist forecasts that remittances from Dominicans living abroad will increase to US$912 million this year, up from US$868 million in 1997. The stock of the external foreign debt will only grow 1%, up from US$4,077 million in 1997 to US$4,140 million in 1998.
