Shrugging off the stereotypes

June 01, 1998

The military dictatorships are gone and the civil wars are over. Now, as Central America's governments overcome their suspicion of foreign borrowing, the region is opening up to foreign investment. James Rutter reports.

Sound fundamentals: economic indicators for Central America
*(1996)*	*Area (1,000 km2)*	*Population (m)*	*GDP ($bn)*	*GDP* *per capita ($)*	*Forex reserves ($m)*	*External* *debt ($bn)*
Costa Rica	51	3.5	9.1	2,600	1,036	4.0
El Salvador	21	5.9	10.6	1,800	993	2.8
Guatemala	109	10.9	17.9	1,480	1,010	3.4
Honduras	112	6.1	4.0	650	445	4.6
Nicaragua	139	4.7	2.0	440	337	6.0
Panama	77	2.7	8.2	3,000	1,327	7.1
*Source: Dresdner Bank Lateinamerika*

There aren't many emerging-market regions where the undeveloped state of the local equity market is partly blamed on kidnapping.