DR growth still up

[NewsWhore]

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), through their Preliminary overview of the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2008, projects that the DR will end 2008 with a 4.5% growth rate, and though this is the lowest economic growth in the last four years it will still rank higher than growth rates of some nations in the region. The country's GDP per inhabitant will also register a 3% growth rate, according to ECLAC. The organization says that the year will end with a 7% inflation rate and the non-financial deficits in the public sector and deficits of the current accounts will register 3.2% and 12.6% of the GDP. The report indicates that foreign direct investment reached US$2.353 billion in September, which is 133% more than in 2007. The report also indicates that export-related services represent just under 10% of the GDP. The report indicates that during 2008 inbound tourism consumption as a percentage of GDP totaled 9.8% while inbound tourism consumption as a percentage of export of goods and services totaled 33.7%. According to the report, "The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) projects that world tourism will expand by between 0% and 2% in 2009. The recession in the developed economies, which are home to approximately 75% of all tourists traveling to the English-speaking Caribbean and over 40% of those traveling to Central America (for Cuba and the Dominican Republic, the percentage is 75%) will have an impact on per capita disposable income and hence on tourism spending. Business travel may be particularly hard hit. Nevertheless, an easing of inflationary pressures and currency depreciation in several countries in the region could compensate in part for these effects and tourist destinations closest to the place of residence could benefit. Price competitiveness and the exchange-rate situation between all the tourist destinations will prove to be much more important for sustaining this activity. Lastly, several countries where significant investments have taken place in recent years will be better placed to compete for the declining demand that seems to be in the offing." The consumer price index (CPI) for the lowest income levels systematically rose more than for the highest level and in the Dominican Republic the corresponding figures were 18% CPi for the highest income levels and 10.5% for the lowest income levels. ECLAC also warns of a dependency on remittances, which make up 10% of the nation's GDP.
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