Growth Estimated to be 2.7% for the March Quarter

• Jamaica’s economy grew by an estimated 2.7% during the January to March 2023 quarter. This represents the eighth consecutive quarter of growth recorded, according to the Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wayne Henry.
• He highlighted that the preliminary outturn for the quarter resulted in a growth of 4.3% for Fiscal Year 2022/23 and represents full recovery in overall output levels from the impact of COVID-19, one year before the projected recovery date of Fiscal Year 2023/24.
• The March 2023 outturn largely reflected the impact of increased external demand, especially for Jamaica’s Tourism product. It also reflected the resumption of operations at the Jamalco Alumina plant in Clarendon during the July to September 2022 quarter, following the facility’s closure in August 2021, due to a fire.
• A breakdown of the outturn shows that the Services Industry grew by an estimated 3.8% owing to expansion in all subsectors, buoyed by those associated with travel and tourism.
• However, the Goods Producing Industry contracted by an estimated 0.7%. Only two of the four Goods Producing Industry subsectors, ‘Mining and Quarrying’ and ‘Manufacturing’, recorded growth. ‘Mining and Quarrying’ grew by an estimated 95.9%, due to higher alumina output, which outweighed a contraction in crude bauxite production.
• The economy is projected to grow in the range of two to three per cent. This, the Director General noted, is based on the continuation of the growth momentum in most industries.

(Source: JIS News)