Dominican economy grew 3.1 % in September, the highest growth recorded in the year

Santo Domingo. – Governor of the Central Bank, Héctor Valdez Albizu said the accumulated growth in the first nine months (January-September) 2023 was 1.7%.

The Governor announced that the Monetary Board authorized a new liquidity facility for the construction, manufacturing, export, and agricultural sectors for RD$40 billion this October.

“Of these resources, as of October 19, the financial system has already channeled some RD$13,735 million,” he said.

He noted that because of these liquidity-enhancing measures, monetary aggregates have expanded, lending and deposit interest rates have fallen, and private credit grew by 17% year-on-year in September.

SECTOR GROWTH

Growth 2023.

In announcing that the monthly indicator of economic activity (IMAE) registered a year-on-year growth of 3.1 % in September 2023, he said that “the most significant contribution in January-September came from hotels, bars, and restaurants, which grew 10.9 %, maintaining the great dynamism exhibited all year.

In September alone, the country received 478,792 tourists by air, accumulating a record 6,023,573 non-resident visitors during the first nine months of the year, with a hotel occupancy rate of 75%. If we add to this the more than 1,607,360 cruise passengers who visited the country in January-September, the total number of visitors reached 7,630,933, another historic milestone for tourism”, he added.

In September, construction activity also grew, registering an expansion of 9.5% after negative records in the first months of this year. Agriculture and livestock rose 3.4 % year-on-year, an increase of 3.8 % in January-September 2023.

“It is time to climb the rungs to development. As the famous author of Les Miserables, Victor Hugo, once said, “The future has many names. For the weak, it is the unattainable. For the fearful, it is the unknown. For the brave, it is an opportunity,” he said.

MEASUREMENT

Inflation.

Despite the highly complex situation, the Governor affirmed that inflation is within the target range of 4 % ±1 %. Regarding the measures adopted, he recalled that the Monetary Policy Rate has been lowered to 7.50 %. The monetary aggregates have expanded, lending and deposit interest rates have fallen, and credit to the private sector registered a year-on-year growth of 17 % in September.

LABOR MARKET
Valdez Albizu announced that the total number of employed reached its highest historical level of 4,855,631 workers in the July-September 2023 quarter, reflecting a remarkable creation of 222,497 jobs in year-on-year terms, according to the latest data from the Central Bank’s Continuous National Labor Force Survey (ENCFT). He said that the percentage of informality was reduced by 1.5 percentage points in the third quarter of 2023, dropping from 58.1 % in July-September 2022 to 56.7 % in the same period of 2023, and the open unemployment rate stood at 5.4 % for the third quarter of 2023.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Rates.

The Governor of the BCRD highlighted that the international community has recognized the Dominican economic performance as meritorious this year despite the unfavorable environment. In this regard, he noted that just a few days ago, Katie Taylor, director of the Pan American Development Foundation, an independent organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS), affirmed that the Dominican Republic “is a light in the hemisphere, with democratic stability, economic stability, and development.”

Inflation is within the target range of 4 % ±1 %.

As a result of the increase in liquidity, the circulating medium (M1) grew 11.2 % in September, M2, 17 %, and broad money, M3, 14.6 %.

The free trade zone sector grew 0.7 %, and tourism revenues 19.3 %.

PROJECTIONS
FDI is expected to exceed US$4,300 MM, more than US$11,200 MM in remittances, and GDP is expected to close at 3% and 5.2% in 2024.