Business
Caribbean Development Bank states that Caribbean recorded modest economic growth in 2013
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Tuesday said that regional countries experienced average economic growth of 1.5 per cent last year as compared with 1.2 per cent in 2012. But the CDB said the region is likely to record average economic growth of 2.3 per cent in 2014. “Led by Guyana, Haiti and Suriname, growth is expected for all 19 BMCs (Borrow Member Countries), with most again set to grow by one to three per cent.
“The recovery in regional tourism is expected to strengthen with the anticipated faster growth in the US and a return to growth in the Euro Area as well as expectations of improved airlift and reduced fuel costs resulting from further declines in commodity prices.”
The CDB said that this recovery, together with global FDI (foreign direct investment) growth projected at around 10 per cent in 2014 should have further spin-off benefits for construction and other real sector activity.”
In an “Economic Review and Prospects” for the bank’s borrowing member states, the Barbados-based financial institution said rising incomes and employment in advanced economies, coupled with renewed foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, contributed to solid growth in construction activity and continued recovery in tourism in most of the Caribbean.
It said the expansion in construction activity was linked to the combined effects of significant public investment in critical economic infrastructure, growth in private residential construction and significant FDI-driven tourism-related development.
In the tourism sector, stay-over arrivals increased across destinations, as the recovery in key United States Euro Area markets continued.
“The exceptions were Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, where airlift challenges and high intra-regional travel costs affected visitor arrivals,” the CDB noted. It said the general uptrend in arrivals in the higher-value-added stay-over segment of the industry offset the impact of challenges in the cruise segment, where out turns were more mixed.
