In its report on Monday, 28 August 2023 on the preliminary results of the Dominican economy as of July 2023, the Central Bank reveals that the Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (IMAE) has registered an inter-annual growth of 2.9% in July 2023. While the indicator is below average, the Central Bank says there have been significant improvements mainly in local manufacturing, construction, commerce, transportation and agriculture, when compared to the performance of these sectors in the first half of the year.
With this result, the average variation of the IMAE during January-July 2023 was 1.4% compared to the same period of 2022. The tourism sector (hotels, bars and restaurants) continues to drive the economy, with a growth of 11.9%.
The Central Bank reports that the inter-annual variation rates observed in July were: hotels, bars and restaurants (9.1%), financial services (6.9 %), health (6.2%), real estate and rental services (5. 6 %), agriculture (5.1%), communications (5.9 %), commerce (4.7%), construction (2.1%), local manufacturing (1.6%), free trade zone manufacturing (1.6%), transportation and storage (0.6%), among others.
The Central Bank says that the economy has been positively reacting to monetary stimuli implemented by the monetary authorities since May 2023. The year’s end target range for growth is 4% ± 1%. The Central Bank explains that monetary policy transmission mechanism operates with lags, so it is expected that these measures will continue their spillover effect, accelerating this mechanism and supporting the recovery of the economy in the remainder of the year with an improvement in the performance of the productive sectors.
The Central Bank notes that private credit in local currency grew 17.0% in July compared to the same month of 2022.
The dean of economics of the state university (UASD), Ciriaco Cruz told Listin Diario in an interview that he sees the economy still slow, yet recovering from the long months when the monetary authorities implemented restraints to curb inflation. He doubted the economy would reach the 4% target rate set by the Central Bank for the end of the year.
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Central Bank
Diario Libre
El Caribe
Listin Diario
29 August 2023