Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, a report from the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), a United Nations body, has found that Central American countries, along with the Dominican Republic and Haiti, have benefited from the fall in the prices of energy products, of which they are large net importers.
The Dominican Republic led the region in GDP growth in 2015 with 6.6%, followed by 5.9% for Panama. According to ECLAC’s projections, Panama will lead regional growth next year with an expansion of 6.2%, followed by Dominica and the Dominican Republic (5.2%), Saint Kitts and Nevis (4.7%) and Bolivia (4.5%). Nicaragua is expected to grow 4.3%, Cuba 4.2%, Guatemala 4.0%, Peru 3.4%, Costa Rica and Honduras 3.3%, Colombia and Paraguay 3.0%, Mexico 2.6%, Haiti 2.5%, El Salvador 2.4%, Chile 2.1%, Uruguay 1.5%, Argentina 0.8% and Ecuador 0.3%.
The report reveals that the Dominican Republic has also reported one of the lowest 12-month changes in the consumer price index (October 2013 to October 2015) with 1.2%, compared to the Central America and Mexico sub-region, which also includes Haiti, where the average was 2.7%.
Debt in the Caribbean countries has generally trended upward over the last half-decade and now averages about 80% of GDP, with Jamaica having the highest public debt at 131% of GDP, compared to a reported 38% for the Dominican Republic, as reported by ECLAC. Nevertheless, the Dominican Republic showed a substantial increase in public debt servicing. Debt servicing represents a share of over 15% of public expenditure.
The report says that in the Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, tax revenue has held steady in relation to output during the year.
http://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/latin-american-and-caribbean-economies-will-grow-just-02-2016-complex-global-scenario
http://www.7dias.com.do/economia/2015/12/17/i202290_republica-dominicana-lidera-crecimiento-latinoamericano-con.html#.VnMitkvxj7I
http://www.cepal.org/en/node/35416
http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/39559/S1501289_en.pdf?sequence=1