Dominican economy reaches a recovery growth of 41.7 percent in April
The Dominican economy had a growth of 47.1% last April, compared to the same month of 2020, when it suffered a drop of 29.8%.
In the first four months of 2021, the monthly indicator of economic activity (IMAE) expanded by 11.5% on average.
This was reported yesterday by the Governor of the Central Bank, Héctor Valdez Albizu, who stressed that the result does not constitute a simple rebound due to statistical effect, but shows a reactivation that has exceeded the level prior to the pandemic, by increasing the IMAE last April 3.3% in relation to the same month of 2019.
“We have an advantage and it is that, statistically, we are comparing a bad year with a good one. If public investment accelerates, we cannot expect anything other than growth, and the growth it generates is: first spending, then investment and then employment”, declared Valdez Albizu.
He noted that advances in the coronavirus vaccination process, the better performance of the world economy and tourism, could promote an improvement in growth projections for the end of 2021, which could be “conservatively” from 7% to 8%.
In the first four months of the year, the country received 1,044,159 tourists and it is expected that the trend towards recovery will continue to consolidate, according to the bank’s report.
Construction (566.9%), hotels, bars, and restaurants (140.7%), free zones (82.6%), mining (60.6%), other activities and services (48.8%), transportation and storage (45.1%), local manufacturing (34.4%) and commerce (22.7%) were the economic sectors with the highest growth in April.
The official asked whether the new restrictions for the next two weeks that the government imposed to stop COVID-19 infections could stop the economic rebound that the country is having, said that the period for which they were imposed (two weeks) would have no impact on the economy.
“We have said that the economy, the only way it has, is to maintain stable growth, that all the fundamentals of the economy are inline”, he said.
Inflationary pressure will give way
The governor of the Central Bank indicated that the institution’s forecasting models reflect that as of June inflationary pressure will begin to decrease.
He affirmed that, as of June, when the new methodology of the family basket enters, the downward convergence will begin “because we are using the data from the old and the new basket.”
Valdez Albizu said that it is in the city of Santo Domingo where prices skyrocket the most and where inflation has the greatest impact.
“People are shouting to heaven for prices, but it is in Santo Domingo, mainly, because one thing is the prices of the city and another is the consumer price index of the country,” he said.
In its monetary program, the Central Bank estimated inflation of 4.0% ± 1.0% for the year.