Foreign direct investment tops US$580M in 1Q, a 29.5% jump: Central Bank

Santo Domingo.- Foreign direct investment reached US$580.1million in the first quarter of 2016, the Central Bank said in its preliminaryreport on the economy released Thursday, or a 29.5% jump compared with the sameperiod last year.

Energy, communications and real estate attracted the mostinvestments, "demonstrating the confidence of foreign investors in theDominican economy," the Central Bank said.

it said president Danilo Medina’s surprise visits influencedagriculture’s 1.9% growth, “led by the production system’s integration of small and medium producers in remote areas.”

It said the visits also prompted Agriculture Bank financingof RD$3.2 billion, or 10.9% higher, adding that the economy grew 6.1% in thefirst quarter