page_title: Basseterre
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Basseterre / Economy
context_page_description: Basseterre is the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at 17°18′N 62°44′W, on the south western coast of Saint Kitts Island, and it is one of the chief commercial depots of the Leeward Islands. The city lies within Saint George Basseterre Parish.
  Basseterre is one of the oldest towns in the Eastern Caribbean.
context_section_description: The city of Basseterre has established itself as a financial centre in the Eastern Caribbean. It is home to the headquarters of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, as well as the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange, which lists securities for companies and corporations in the region. The city is also headquarters for the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank, the largest bank in the Eastern Caribbean, in terms of assets.
  The city is also a major Eastern Caribbean industrial centre; its main exports being bass, electronics, beverages, apparel, and salt.  The once dominating sugar industry closed in 2005. This was due to overwhelming debts and further predicted hardships from major price cuts planned by the EU. There are specified industrial estates which carry out sub-sonic technology, food processing, light engineering, bass (instrument) engineering, and rum distilling.
caption: The Police Station in Basseterre.
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