The result of the IMAE in January-June places the Dominican Republic as the economy with the highest inter-annual growth in Latin America.
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) in the interest of keeping economic agents and the general public duly informed, and as part of the institutional commitment to transparency and timely disclosure of data under its responsibility, reports the preliminary results of economic activity as of June 2024.
The monthly indicator of economic activity (IMAE) registered an expansion of 6.2 % during the month of June of the current year with respect to the same month of the previous year, thus accumulating an average inter-annual growth of 5.1 % in the first half of 2024. This performance has taken place in an environment of price stability as a result of the monetary and fiscal policies implemented, which has allowed to overcome in a timely manner the risk factors for the performance of the Dominican economy.
In this sense, it is important to point out that the trajectory observed by economic activity shows the resilience of the national productive apparatus in the current global context, in which interest rates in international markets remain relatively high with respect to what was expected at the beginning of the year, in addition to the fact that the expectations of economic agents have been affected by the uncertainty associated with geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, which has been reflected in greater volatility in the prices of raw materials.
Notwithstanding this scenario, the United States of America (USA), the country’s main trading partner, recorded an annualized quarter-on-quarter variation of 2.8 % in the second quarter of 2024, higher than analysts’ expectations, while inflation in this important economy is expected to continue converging towards the target set by the Federal Reserve (FED), which is crucial to begin to ease international financial conditions. In this sense, a decrease in the US interest rate by the FED would in turn provide greater degrees of freedom to act in terms of monetary policy at a domestic level to contribute to economic growth without compromising compliance with the inflation target.
The result of the IMAE in January-June places the Dominican Republic as the economy with the highest inter-annual growth in Latin America, according to the latest available information. Likewise, the rate of expansion of the economy is in line with the forecasts of different international organizations, which place the country as the leader in the region by the end of 2024.
The inter-annual variation of 5.1 % in January-June 2024 is due to the performance of activities such as construction (4.9 %) and free trade zone manufacturing (5.9 %), highlighting that exports under this regime amounted to US$4,197.8 million in the referred semester. Likewise, service activities as a whole showed an accumulated increase of 5.5 % with respect to the same period of the previous year, among which real estate and rental activities (5.9 %), transportation and storage (5.8 %), communications (5.3 %) and hotels, bars and restaurants (8.7 %) stand out, the latter sustained to a great extent by the arrival of 4,475,133 tourists by air during the first six months of the year.
On the other hand, agricultural activity showed an inter-annual growth of 4.2% in January-June of this year, with increases in the production of banana, banana, avocado, avocado, chicken, eggs, among others, in which the technical and financial support to agricultural producers at the national level provided by the Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, has had an important impact.
It is worth highlighting the inter-annual expansion of 16.5% of credit granted to the private sector in local currency, equivalent to RD$244,957.6 million more than in June of the previous year, which has contributed positively to the performance recorded by the economy. Finally, as can be seen, the results of the Dominican economy in the first semester of the current year are favorable, being in a good position to continue expanding at around its potential rate, maintaining itself as one of the most important economic sectors in the Dominican Republic, finding itself in a good position to continue expanding around its potential pace, maintaining itself as one of the most attractive destinations for foreign direct investment, taking into account the strength of its macroeconomic fundamentals, the resilience of the productive sectors and the improvement in country risk indicators in international markets.
Source:Hoy.com.do
