Economy of Puertego

The economy of Puertego is a mixed socialist-oriented market economy with the private sector allowed to operate in much of the economy though state control still being common in many industries such as utilities and natural resources. The economy is one of the fastest growing on the continent with it consistently measuring 8-9% GDP growth every year with the economy showing no real signs of slowing in its growth any time soon unless a catastrophic event hits the economy unexpectedly. While the economy has seen rapid and continuous growth ever since 2008 there are still many people who critique many aspects of the economy such as the massive income inequality and poverty allowed to exist in it with Puertego having some of the worst income inequality in the entire world, there has also been criticism towards the countries heavy corruption in state run industries, lack of wage growth despite the growing economy, and the lack of a lot of social welfare commonly found in other countries.

The Puertegan economy was formerly almost exclusively based on farming cash crops and selling them abroad with things such as sugar and rubber however in recent times the economy has been moving to a more industrialized one with the country making it very easy and profitable for companies to outsource their production to Puertego, in recent times Puertego has become a large producer of things such as steel, textiles, chemicals, various refined metals, and aluminum though natural resource extraction still remains a large sector of the economy with mining copper, tin, zinc, nickel and other minerals as well as farming sugar, rubber, and tobacco still being large industries in Puertego. Services are a small sector of the economy with the government prioritizing industry and the only real service jobs are in shipping, finance, or banking or government operated utility companies. Remittances are the last part of the Puertegan economy with the country receiving an estimated $70 billion back from the 14 million Puertegan working abroad often in Pelaxia, Cartadinia, and Caphiria. The economy of Puertego is largely export based with exports outnumbering imports on a scale of 12 to 1, the country is one of the world's largest importers of energy with them buying coal, oil, and natural gas from almost anyone aboard who will sell it to them as well as being a large importer of food.

Agriculture
In 2030 agriculture in Puertego remained a key sector of the economy accounting for 25% of GDP. Currently it is estimated that around 20% of the population. The primary crops for agriculture in Puertego are tobacco, palm oil, sugarcane, and rubber with agriculture taking up 2.5 million acres of land with another million acres planned to be set aside in order to increase production in the future.

Mining
Mining has always been and remains a large part of the Puertegan economy with the country producing according to 2025 data 18,500 tons of tin, 1,400,000 tons of zinc, 270,000 tons of nickel, 24,500 tons of cobalt, 2,400 tons of lithium, 120 tons of gold, 4,160 tons of silver, and 45,000,000 tons of iron ore. It is estimated through official state numbers that 14% of the population is employed through mining with wages in the sector being barely below average for Puertego and all being employed in the state-run mining company with private companies in that sector being disallowed by law granting the state a complete monopoly on mining operations in Puertego.

Manufacturing
The manufacturing industry in Puertego has experienced rapid growth in recent years with the countries cities becoming heavily industrialized, manufacturing accounts for 2/3rds of GDP in Puertego and employs 1/3rd of the countries workforce. In 2030 the government of Puertego announced that the manufacturing industry had been completely privatized with the last few factories of the state-owned cement company being liquidated and the company being disbanded, growth in the sector remains extremely high with it experiencing a growth rate of around 14% yearly. The largest manufacturing sectors in Puertego are metallurgy, cement, chemicals, and textiles with smaller industries in arms, alcohol, machinery, food processing, and arms. In Puertego it's estimated that around 80% of manufacturing businesses are foreign owned with the 20% domestic owned ones almost universally being owned by high-ranking government officials in Puertego.

Construction
Construction in Puertego has been a booming sector since the onset of the nation's rapid industrialization with the demand for new factories in the nation with the building of new factories and infrastructure to accommodate the countries rapidly growing industry as well as the governments large scale projects across the country. Construction in Puertego is privately owned with the state-run construction company being liquidated in 2019 with 4 large-scale privately-owned construction companies all filling its place almost immediately with the companies being owned by the current minister of Internal Security, two former members of the National Assembly, and a high-ranking general in the Puertegan army, however besides the big four construction companies in Puertego there are several much smaller privately owned construction companies which often operate on the grey market in an attempt to dodge taxes on their work with construction estimated to be the largest grey market industry in Puertego by far.

Energy & Other Utilities
The energy and other utility sectors of Puertego remain under complete state control with the state granting itself a monopoly on the sector. The energy sector is primarily fueled through natural gas, crude oil, and coal though hydro-power also makes up a sizable portion of energy generated however the government has made an attempt to switch to less environmentally destructive methods of energy generation with multiple nuclear power plants currently being built in order to meet the nation's growing energy needs. The national energy grid often has trouble producing enough energy to sustain the national energy consumption which spiked significantly after the nations rapid industrialization with the government choosing to save energy for the industrial sector leading to only 1 in every 4-5 streetlights being kept on and scheduled black outs in the nation's cities being a daily occurrence often lasting around 2.5 hours each day and only buildings deemed necessities like government offices and hospitals being unaffected, though there have been initiatives by the government to increase the percentage of the population with access to electricity in their homes only around 45% of Puertegans currently have access with the presence of large amounts of informal housing being a primary obstacle to achieving higher levels. The water industry in Puertego is also state owned just like the electricity industry with many recent improvements to the water supply of Puertego in recent years such as vastly improved sanitation and disinfecting along with access to clean drinking water in cities being almost universal and in rural areas reaching an average of 75% with access.

Banking & Finance
The most important banks in Puertego are the state-owned Torres Bank, BIDP, and Puertcombank, which dominate the banking sectors in Puertego. Though foreign investment into Puertegan banks is much less common than in various other sectors of the economy investment into banking is still present with around 19.5% of Torres Bank owned by foreigners and and around 14% of Puertcombank. Though currently state-owned the government has shown signs that it may be willing to privatize the banking sector in the near future. For the financial sector Puertego opened its first stock exchange in San Lina during 2009 with the country currently having a total of three, the San Linan Stock Exchange, the Torres Stock Exchange, and finally the Lower Islands Stock Exchange.

Gambling
The gambling industry in Puertego was originally outlawed in by the 2002 Moral Standards Act which outlawed all unauthorized forms of gambling and provided for penalties ranging from monetary fines to short prison sentences, although the Puertegan government does not list gambling as an offense which someone is able to go to prison over. However, while gambling is still officially illegal in Puertego the law only applies to Puertegan citizens allowing many casinos to operate inside Puertego's borders designed to cater to the interests of tourists with 22 such establishments existing in Puertego. However, despite the restrictions on gambling imposed by the government gambling as a past time has been deeply ingrained in Puertegan culture with men who refuse to take part in gambling often being labeled as unmasculine or cowards with a fear of any risks causing illegal gambling to be a large black-market sector in Puertego with the police force often being paid bribes to look the other way on it. Common forms of illegal gambling in Puertego include cockfights/dogfights, card rooms, and sports books with most of those run by organized crime, the large number of opportunities for gambling plus many Puertegan men feeling they need to gamble due to cultural expectations has led to widespread gambling addiction plaguing Puertego.

Foreign Trade
Foreign trade in Puertego is largely export oriented with the government routinely trying to increase the ratio of exports to imports in the country with the current rate being around 12 exported products for every imported product. The government runs a large trade surplus due to multiple companies outsourcing production to Puertego and the government selling off the minerals and agriculture products from their state run industries. The government has also given companies export subsidies in an attempt to further spur economic growth.

Free Trade
In Puertego universal free trade was adopted shortly after President Torres came into power with the government eliminating all import or export tariffs in the country.

Unionization
Puertegan workers are some of the most unionized in the world with estimates putting the amount of Puertegan workers in a union at 55 million. However unions in Puertego face some of the largest restrictions in the world with all union heads having to be reviewed and approved by the Puertegan ministry of Labor who is able to replace them at any time and for any reason they see fit, along with that they also face several restrictions on being allowed to strike with the police being sent in to break up disallowed strikes often times using force to do so, as well as all union demands to employers needing to be approved by the Ministry of Labor first as well as negations needing to be mediated by them.

Wages
Wages for workers in Puertego are among some of the lowest in the world with the government set minimum wage being only $2.50 after taxes and many companies choosing to pay workers daily wages instead of hourly, alongside this laws regarding overtime are extremely few with many workers reporting their bosses sometimes making them work 12 hour days with very poor compensation for the extra hours they were forced to work. Alongside this wage growth has been stagnant in Puertego for over a decade with the government purposefully keeping wages low for workers in order to make the country look much more appealing for foreign investors to outsource jobs to.

Labor Export
In recent times the government of Puertego has begun to export their labor abroad primarily to Cartadania and Pelaxia through the PROSPER Program where Puertegan workers are trained in various in demand trades before being sent to work in other countries on 1-year visas before they have to come back to Puertego though there is no wait time before they can go back out again. Officially there is no requirement to send money back to Puertego as part of the program however a vast majority of workers in this program send money back to their families in Puertego in the form of remittances which the government taxes at almost 75% despite telling workers before they leave that the tax on remittances is only around 10%.