The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic has announced that the economy increased its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 5.2% during the period January to March 2017, which is consistent with the macro economic projections made by the Central Bank and international organizations.
In releasing its Preliminary Economic 2017 First Quarterly Report, the Central Bank indicated that economic activity is continuing to grow with the cyclical tendency of the Monthly Economic Activity Indicator (IMAE) standing at 5.9% for March. The growth was fueled by increases in real values in the financial intermediary sector (8.5%), agriculture (7.5%), construction (7.2%), hotels, bars and restaurants (6.6%), local manufacturing (5.1%) and commerce (5.0%).
The report highlights the support given to the agriculture sector by means of the Ministry of Agriculture and loans from the Agriculture Bank, which increased to RD$4,612.5 million in the first trimester of this year, some 43.2% higher than the same period in 2016.
Due to the heavy rains at the end of last year, a lot of construction of bridges and roads occurred in Puerto Plata and other parts of the northern region, which led to an increase in the sales of construction products such as cement (3.5%) paint (14.3%) and the import of asphalt (14.3%).
The Central Bank also highlighted the increase in the hotels, bars and restaurant sector of 6.6% spurred by an increase in tourism income of 9.9% between January and March 2017, due to higher number of visitors, with 557,517 arriving by air in April that is an annual increase of 15% over the same time last year.
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Banco Central
10 May 2017
