Dominican Republic to grow 4.8% in 2021 and 4.5% in 2022: World Bank

Santo Domingo.- After a negative year-end of -6.7% of its GDP in 2020, the economy of the Dominican Republic will reach growth of 4.8% in 2021 and 4.5% in 2022, well above the growth projected for the region by 3.7% for this year and from a large part of the Latin American countries.

The information is contained in the regional chapter of the World Bank’s World Economic Outlook report, released by the multilateral financial agency.

The Latin American and Caribbean region has been severely affected by the pandemic, both from a health point of view and from an economic perspective, the report says.

It indicates that five of the 10 emerging market and developing economies with the highest per capita death rate from this disease are located in the region.

“It is estimated that the regional economy contracted 6.9% last year due to the fact that households and companies exhibited risk-averse behavior and measures to control the pandemic limited activities in the formal sector,” he says.

Formal employment, hours worked and earnings have declined sharply. Women and youth, who have a high level of participation in the sectors most disturbed by the pandemic, such as hotels, restaurants and personal services, have been disproportionately affected by job losses, as have low-income households.