Dominican economy registers its first month of growth in times of Covid-19

Santo Domingo.– The Dominican economy registered its first month of positive growth in February, after almost a year of “red” numbers due to the crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month’s growth was 1.1%, a very positive number compared to -29.8% in April 2020, the worst month for productive activities in the country.

“These statistics show that the effort we have made has been great”, said Dominican Central Banker, Héctor Valdez Albizu, when offering these statements at a press conference.

Albizu explained that if the results of the hotels, bars and restaurants sector are left out of these calculations, the growth experienced by the GDP would have been 3.3% in February, instead of 1.1%.

The improvement in the economy is in line with the projections of the Central Bank, which estimates that the year will close with a 6% rise in the performance of productive activities.

This is due to the flexible monetary policies implemented by the Central Bank to boost the productive sectors through credit. In fact, to date 82,246 loans have been granted to households and companies for the facilities granted by that entity.