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Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Central America and has the second lowest per capita income in all of the Western Hemisphere. The economy relies heavily on agriculture exports, mostly beef and coffee. In 2004 Nicaragua secured 4.5 billion in foreign debt reduction due to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative. In 2007 the International Monetary Fund approved a new poverty reduction and growth program. The Central America Dominican Republic free trade agreement has been in effect since 2006 and it has expanded opportunities for exports of manufactured goods. A robust annual growth rate of 5% since 2010 has not been sufficient to lower poverty rates. Nicaragua still heavily relies on international economic assistance. Nicaragua’s chief agricultural products are bananas, coffee, sugarcane, rice, corn, beef, poultry, and tobacco. Shrimping is the most important fishing activity for Nicaragua. The big industries are food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, and knit and woven apparel.  Textiles and agriculture combined are around half of Nicaragua's exports. The United States is Nicaragua’s major export partner. The Nicaraguan Córdoba is Nicaragua's national currency. Established in 11961 The Central Bank of Nicaragua has the sole right of issue of the currency. In a major infrastructure project, the government in 2013 granted a 50-year concession with an option to extend it for another 50 years after the waterway was operational to a Chinese-run company to finance inter-oceanic canal and other related projects. However, the project has been delayed over and over and as of 2018, no work has been done. Proposals like these for such a shipping route to connect the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean have been made for a very long time all the way back to colonial times.