Jamaica economy crawls slowly

Real GDP is assessed to have expanded within the range of 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent for the June 2015 quarter by Bank of Jamaica, Governor of the bank, Bryan Wynter, said today.
The bank said the estimated outturn for the review quarter, “mainly reflects continued expansion in Mining & Quarrying, Hotels & Restaurants, Transport, Storage & Communication, Construction and Wholesale & Retail Trade”. There were estimated declines in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing reflecting the impact of the intensification of dry conditions which started in the March 2015 quarter.
Given the anticipated impact of drought conditions, for FY2015/16 real GDP is forecasted to expand within the range of 1.0 per cent to 2.0 per cent. This projection is contingent on recovery in the mining and manufacturing sectors, assuming there is no recurrence of the production disruptions which occurred in the previous fiscal year. In addition, the economy is projected to continue to benefit from improvements in the business environment, consumer and business confidence as well as continued gains in external competitiveness.

The Jamaican economy squeezed out a small increase of 0.4 percent in the March quarter over the similar quarter of 2014, according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), the official body tasked with the responsibility of collating such data. STATIN said then “growth was due mainly to a 0.6 percent increase in the Services industries” with all industries within the Services industries recording increased levels of output with the exception of Electricity & Water Supply and Producers of Government Services which fell by 2.8 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.