Economy — Page 57

Economy grew in 2013 but barely

April 1, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Jamaican economy was able to eke out 0.2 per cent growth in 2013 compared to the previous year, preliminary estimate from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) shows. The moderate growth rate, which could be revised later, emanated from growth of 1.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the similar quarter of 2012. The fourth quarter growth rate is the strongest for some time but it represents recovery from a period in 2012 when economic activity was negatively affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The economy recorded a growth of 0.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2013 compared to the similar quarter of 2012. Earlier in the year, Statin reported that the Jamaican economy declined by 0.1 per cent in the second quarter and declined by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2013. The country has not enjoyed much growth from 1999 has is shown by the table below.

Growth in the 2013 final quarter resulted from increased output levels in both the Goods Producing industries and Services industries, Statin said.

Statin stated that “the performance in the Goods Producing industries reflects increased activities in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing (13.1 per cent), benefited from favourable weather conditions, Mining & Quarrying (12.1 per cent) resulting from increased capacity utilization at the bauxite and alumina plants and Construction (2.6 percent) due to an increase in residential housing projects and continued expansion in hotels. Manufacture industry declined by 0.8 per cent”.

All industries within the Services industries recorded increased levels of output with the exception of the Producers of Government Services which declined by 0.2 per cent and the Wholesale & Retail Trade; Repairs; Installation of Machinery & Equipment, which remained relatively unchanged for the period. Higher output levels were recorded for: Hotels & Restaurants (5.5 per cent), Transport, Storage & Communication and Other Services (1.1 per cent), Electricity & Water Supply (1.0 per cent), Finance & Insurance Services (0.4 per cent), Real Estate, Renting & Business Activities (0.3 per cent).

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy Tagged With: Economy, GOJ, Statin

Inflation plummets

March 19, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Inflation rate for February plummeted to just 0.1 percent or annualised at only 1.2 percent. The movement in the index for February 2014 resulted in a calendar year-to-date inflation of 0.6 percent.

The latest monthly out-turn is the lowest for since January and February 2011 and except for July 2012 with a negative inflation rate, no other month has come close to it.

The main contributors to the movement were the 0.2 percent advance in the index for the division Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, the heaviest weighted division, and increases of 0.7 percent each for the divisions Clothing and Footwear and Miscellaneous Goods and Services.

The impact of these increases however was moderated by a 1.2 percent decline in the index for the division Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels as a result of the decline in the cost of electricity, water, and sewage rates. ‘Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco’ rose by 0.2 percent, ‘Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance 0.6 percent, ‘Health 0.2 percent, ‘Transport’ 0.1 percent.

Negligible movement was recorded for ‘Recreation and Culture’ 0.4 percent, ‘Restaurants and Accommodation Services’ 0.1 percent, ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ 0.7 percent, ‘Education’ and ‘Communication’ for the period under review. There was zero inflation in the rural areas during the month.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy Tagged With: Economy, Inflation, Statin

BOJ suggests FX stability close

March 16, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Bank of Jamaica, in an unusual weekend press release, indicated that positive trends in the economy and increased flows of foreign exchange in March over the first two months of the year will provide an increasingly solid base for improved stability in the foreign exchange market.

“Since the beginning of March 2014, the exchange rate has depreciated by J$0.93 (0.85%) against the US dollar. This movement over the two-week period compares to a J$0.49 (0.45%) depreciation over the previous two weeks. The faster pace of depreciation has occurred despite increased supply in the foreign exchange market, where volumes from earners for the month to date, are higher than for January and February 2014.” the central bank stated in a release this evening.

“Jamaica’s main economic indicators continue to improve with economic growth resumed in the September quarter and is expected to strengthen over the subsequent six months in the range of 1.0 per cent to 2.0 per cent. Preliminary estimates of the balance of payments indicate that the current account deficit was reduced sharply over the period April 2013 to September 2013, by approximately US$350.0 million. The current level of net international reserves (NIR) is US$1,121.4 million, increasing by US$52.0 million since the end of February 2014. Bank of Jamaica now expects to comfortably meet the NIR target under the International Monetary Fund agreement for the March 2014 quarter. Finally, headline inflation was lower than projected at 0.5 per cent for the month of January and the fiscal year to March 2014 is now likely to fall close to or below the bottom of the 8.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent target range. The BOJ stated that against the background of recent movements in the exchange rate, they wish to assure the public that it stands ready to provide support to prevent disorderly conditions from emerging in the foreign exchange market.” the release concluded.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy Tagged With: BOJ, Deficit, Economy, FX Market, GOJ

2013 Remittance inflows top $2B

March 7, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Total remittance inflows into Jamaica for 2013 hit a record of US$2.07 billion, US$23 million more than the amount received in 2012, which was the previous record year at US$2.043 billion according to data from the Bank of Jamaica. Net remittances for January to December 2013 were US$1.82 billion, an increase of US$49 million compared to 2012.

The out-turn for December reflected an increase in gross remittance inflows and a contraction in outflows with net remittances for the month reaching US$176 million, an increase of US$2.2 million over the similar period of 2012. Gross remittance inflows for the month were US$195 million, a decrease of US$1.7 million relative to December 2012.

Image courtesy of Boaz Yiftach/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For the fourth quarter of 2013, net remittances were US$476 million, an increase of US$27 million or 6.0 per cent relative to the corresponding quarter of the previous year resulting from an increase in gross remittance inflows and a contraction in remittance outflows.

Total remittance inflows for the December quarter were US$533 million, representing an increase of US$16 million or 3.0 per cent relative to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Related posts | Remittance inflows continues up | October remittances up

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: BOJ, Economy, Remittances

Jamaica’s trade deficit improves

March 3, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Jamaica’s trade deficit improvement experienced a recovery in the year to November 2013 as both imports, which fell by US$392 million and exports, down by US$112 million, resulted in the deficit falling by 6.2 percent or US$289 million when compared to the similar period in 2012.

Overall, imports for the 11 month period in 2013 was US$5,664 million, down from US$6,056 million for the same period in 2012 and exports of US$1,442 million, resulted in a trade deficit of US$4,221 million as reported by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

Imports | Freezone activity accounted for US$295 million in imports, compared to US$352 million in the corresponding 2012 period. The category of Mineral Fuels, which accounts for 35 percent of the country’s import bill, fell by US$229 million to US$1,984 million compared to the same period of 2012. Machinery and Transport Equipment fell by US$20 million to US$831 million. Chemicals imports was valued at US$741 million, a decrease of US$80 million. Manufactured Goods fell by US$41 million or 7.1 percent to US$544 million. Spending on Food, however, rose by US$12 million to US$888 million as a result of the sharp rise in the price of basic commodities.

Traditional Exports | For the period of January to November 2013, the country earned US$724 million from traditional domestic exports which fell by 2.9 percent or US$22 million versus 2012 period largely due to the decline in Manufacturing exports. Non-traditional domestic exports fell by US$104 million or 13.9 percent to US$643 million compared with the first eleven months of 2012.

Trade with USA improves | The value of imports from the United States of America, a major trading partner, fell by US$145 million or 7 percent to US$1,940 million to November 2013 compared to the similar period in 2012. Merchandise exports sold to the USA fell by US$19 million to US$711 million resulting in the trade deficit of US$1,229 million, down from US$1,355 million for the similar 2012 period, a decline of US$126.5 million.

Trade with CARICOM worsens | Goods imported by Jamaica from the CARICOM region from January to November 2013 grew by US$4.5 million to US$822 million, due largely to increased expenditure on “Food” which increased by US$13 million to US$151 million. Total exports fell by 20 percent or US$15 million to US$63 million.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy Tagged With: Deficit, Economy, GOJ, Trade

GOJ deficit up in January

February 28, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Government spent more in January than originally budgeted and collected less than projected to wipe out the projected $761 surplus originally budgeted, ending up with a deficit for the month of $3.274 billion. At the end of January, the year-to-date deficit is at $22.9 billion, just $2.65 billion less than the amount budgeted.

The revenue for the month was short of the $31.37 billion budgeted by $820 million. Capital expenditure exceeds the budget of $3.53 billion in the month by $1.45 billion coming in at $4.98 billion. However, capital expenditure is still running $7.6 billion below budget for the year to January.

The budget projected a shortfall of $2 billion in February and $19.5 billion surplus in March. The latter is in keeping with historical pattern with the last month of the fiscal years realizing a surpluses. If the budget is achieved for the remaining two months of the fiscal year, the fiscal deficit will come close to being wiped out and would have been reduced from $54.6 billion.

For the 10 months to January, tax revenues fell short by $13.2 billion and non-tax was below budget by $3.6 billion and recurrent expenditure was down $14.4 billion from budget. Interest cost was lower by $3.9 billion and other recurrence expenditure by $6.8 billion.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Deficit, Economy, GOJ

Inflation moderates slightly

February 19, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Jamaica’s inflation moderated slightly in January this year, according to data released by Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) compared with the December 2013 inflation rate.

Statin says that the inflation recorded by the All Jamaica Consumer Price Index was 0.5 per cent. Jamaica’s inflation rate for December 2013 was put at 0.6 percent by Statin in an earlier report released in January.

All divisions recorded an inflation rate below 1.0 per cent, with the exception of ‘Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance’, which recorded an increase of 2.9 per cent. This movement was due mainly to the increase of approximately 12.0 per cent in the National Minimum Wage which took effect on January. The highest weighted division, ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ moved up by 0.4 per cent a slightly lower movement than the 0.5 per cent recorded for December 2013, as lower prices were paid for vegetables and starchy foods.

The upward movement in the index recorded for the divisions for January were as follows: ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ which moved up by 0.4 per cent, ‘Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco’ 0.1 per cent, ‘Clothing and Footwear’ 0.2 per cent, ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’0.7 per cent, ‘Health 0.3 per cent, ‘Transport’ 0.1 per cent. ‘Recreation and Culture’ 0.1 per cent, ‘Restaurants and Accommodation Services’ 0.5 per cent, ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ 0.7 per cent, ‘Education’ and ‘Communication’ recorded negligible movement for the period under review the release stated.

The Index advanced in all three regions: Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area (GKMA) 0.6 per cent, Other Urban Centres (OUC) 0.4 per cent and Rural Areas, 0.5 per cent.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Economy, Inflation, Statin

USA trade deficit worsens, Caricom improves

February 17, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Trade deficit deteriorates with USA | Jamaica’s trade deficit with the United States of America (USA) to October last year resulted in savings of US$136 million, which flowed from a rise in exports and a reduction in imports. This is a decline from the position in August when there was a $212 million improvement.

At the end of the 2013 period, the trade deficit with the USA stood at US$1.1 billion, down from US$1.24 billion in the comparable 2012 period. The value of imports the during the January to October 2013 fell by US$103 million or 5.6 percent to US$1.753 billion compared to the same period in 2012 and exports rose by US$32 million or 5.2 percent to US$651 million, representing 49.6 percent of total earnings from exports.

Expenditure on goods imported from the USA accounted for approximately 34.0 percent of Jamaica’s total expenditure on imports.

Image courtesy of Sommai/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Caricom trade improves | The trade deficit with the Caricom region for the year to October 2013 showed a US$65 million or 9 percent improvement over the similar period in 2012 with the deficit amounting to US$654 million, down from US$719 million in the comparable period of 2012.

Imports from CARICOM during January to October 2013, fell by 10.2 percent or US$80.3 million to US$709.6 million as a result of a decrease in expenditure on “Mineral Fuels, etcetera”. Up to August, imports fell by US$80 million as well and the reduction seems to have stabilised at a lower level than before. Expenditure on this commodity group accounted for 66.6 percent of goods imported from CARICOM during the 2013 period and imports fell by US$87 million or 15.6 percent to US$472 million in the current period. By comparison, in the January to October 2012 period, imports of “Mineral Fuels, etcetera” represented 70.8 percent of Jamaica’s total import bill with CARICOM.

Importation of “Food” rose by 9.3 percent or US$11.9 million to US$140.2 million. Spending on “Beverages & Tobacco” also rose marginally to US$33.4 million.

Total exports declined by 21.2 per cent or US$15.0 million to US$55.8 million during the January to October 2013 period. Domestic exports moved down from US$62 million to US$48 million because of decreases in “Chemicals”, “Misc. Manufactured Articles” and “Mineral Fuels, etcetera”. Earnings from these three commodity groups fell in the 2013 review period to US$5.1 million, US$3.4 million, and US$0.4 million respectively.

Related posts | Non-Traditional exports up | Caricom imports drop

Image courtesy of StuartMiles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: Deficit, Economy, GOJ, Trade

Remittance inflows continues up

February 12, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Remittance inflows for November last year were US$168 million, an increase of US$10 million or 6.3 per cent compared to the corresponding month in 2012. The rise in total remittance inflows reflected an increase of US$8.0 million in inflows through Remittance Companies and an increase of US$2 million in inflows by other sources.

Net remittances flows were US$149.4 million for November 2013, an increase of US$13.5 million or 9.9 per cent versus the corresponding month in of 2012. The growth in net remittance inflows reflected an increase in gross remittance inflows and a contraction in outflows.

Total remittance inflows from January to November 2013 were US$1.87 billion, an increase of US$24 million over the flows for the similar period in 2012.

The increase in total remittance inflows reflect an increase of US$15 million in inflows through Other Remittances and an increase of US$9 million in inflows through Remittances Companies.

Net remittances for January to November 2013 were US$1.65 billion representing an increase of US$47 million or 2.9 per cent relative to 2012. The outturn for the review period reflected an increase in gross remittance inflows and a contraction in outflows.

Related posts | October remittances up

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: BOJ, Economy, FX Market, Remittances

Business conditions mending?

February 12, 2014 by IC Insider.com

The perceptions about present and future business conditions improved significantly in the most recent survey relative to the previous survey done in November last year. The survey was commission by Bank of Jamaica and undertaken by Statin.

In the most recent survey, the index hit 97.5 for current business conditions, up strongly from 66.6 in October and 87.4 in September and is at the highest level since June 2012 that was recorded at 115.1. However, the perception of future business conditions remained below the levels recorded in FY2011/12.

The business sector is very bullish on the future, as the future expectations reading is now up to 125 compared to 98.6 in October and is at the highest since November 2012 at 130.6.

About the survey | The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) undertakes surveys of businesses on behalf of the Bank of Jamaica to ascertain the expectations of economic agents about variables which are likely to have an impact on inflation in the near-term. In this regard, the survey captures the perception of Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors and Financial Controllers about the future movement of prices, current and future business conditions and the expected rate of increase in wages/salaries.

Related posts | Business confidence drops 24%

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: BOJ, Economy, Statin