The economy and the pandemic have successfully coexisted globally, especially given the difficult landscape in which we find ourselves. Today we are still dealing with the health crisis, but the disruptions to global economic growth have been considerably less than last year, or even the beginning of 2021.
In the U.S., the headline story of the past few weeks has been President Biden’s proposed nearly $1 trillion infrastructure plan. Virtually every economic development in the US has an impact in one way or another on the Dominican economy.
President Biden’s ambitious plan would create thousands of jobs and could have a downward effect on the dollar, which is generally positive for the Dominican Republic. In addition, the improvement of the labor market in North America, where the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.4%, its lowest level since March 2020, is also another clear sign that a significant amount of remittances and increased trade with the Dominican Republic will continue to arrive.
President Abinader reported that we have received some 2.5 million tourists in the first 7 months of 2021, a higher figure compared to the same period last year and it is estimated that visits to the country by non-resident travelers could even surpass pre-pandemic times. This increase in tourists has allowed the sector to recover some 60,000 direct jobs and generated US$2.4 billion.
Finally, different multilateral entities and the BCRD project an economic growth between 7% and 10% this year.
