Wow - The top Loser?

Chris said:

According to a report from the Latin Business Chronicle, the DR is one of the top losers in both imports and exports in Latin America!

It is also disturbing to see imports rising and exports declining.

You have to be a subscriber to read the full report, but there is an outline here... Latin Business Chronicle

Click to expand...

Those a figure for 2006, the CAFTA agreement which was put in place earlier this year may have a different effect on this for the end of 2007 and certainly 2008.

On the other hand, if imports rose faster than exports, then its a sign that consumption is up and consumption can increase in various ways, among which exist increase in disposable income. Remember, not too long ago consumption was on a decline due to the economic crisis.

Interesting report, none the less.

-NALs

Reading closely, "The top losers in export growth are El Salvador, which only saw a 4.2 percent increase last year. The Dominican Republic followed (4.8 percent), with Haiti (8.1 percent)..."

There was not an actual decline in exports, DR was just at the low end of the growth scale.

Perhaps overall rather impressive to still have growth at all when one considers the losses in the apparel industry that were still occurring in 2006. Some other sectors must have picked up the slack.

2004 Apparel exports $2.064 billion
2006 Apparel exports $1.553 billion
Source: Page 4 http://www.fairlabor.org/?module=uploads&func=download&fileId=425

Another good report if you want to study impact of China on Dominican Republic textile industry: http://www.fairlabor.org/?module=uploads&func=download&fileId=423