In its quarterly economic report, the Central Bank says that preliminary Gross Domestic Product results in real terms show that the Dominican Republic grew 6.1% between January and March 2016. The most dynamic sectors were mining (33.8%), finance intermediation (12.0%), health (9.6%), construction (8.8%), hotels, bars and restaurants (6.4%), education (6.3%), energy and water (6.2%), transport and warehousing (5.0%), local manufacturing (4.0%), real estate and rentals (4.0%), commerce 3.4%) and farming (1.9%).
This follows a 7% growth rate reported in the last quarter of 2015. The National Labor Force Survey (ENFT) for April 2016 recorded the creation of 173,402 new jobs from April 2015 to April 2016.
Inflation reflected in the Consumer Price Index (IPC) during the period was -0.58%. Annualized inflation measured from March 2015 to March 2016 was 1.59%.
The Central Bank reported that the Gross International Reserves for the quarter were US$5.18 billion, while the Net International Reserves were US$5.13 billion as of 31 March 2016. The Liquid International Reserves, which are those available to tackle any unforeseen situation, were at an unprecedented high of US$3.15 billion for the same period.
Hard currency receipts for the first quarter were US$5.88 billion, up 5.4% compared to the same period in 2015 (US$301.7 million more), due to good performance in exports, tourism, family remittances and direct foreign investment.
Tourism receipts were estimated at US$1.79 billion, for a growth of 7.6% compared to January-March 2015. This is due to the increase in 8.4% of arrivals from the United States.
Banco Central anuncia economía creció 6.1% en primer trimestre de 2016
http://www.bancentral.gov.do/notas_bc/2016/04/28/834/economia-dominicana-crece-61-en-enero-marzo-2016
