Dominican economy recorded the largest monthly increase in 2023

The economy of the Dominican Republic registered a growth of 3.6% last October, which is the highest monthly expansion, higher than the 3.1% of September and the 2.6% inter-annual increase in the third quarter, the Central Bank informed this Friday.

In a press release, the issuing entity specified that the increase registered in October is mainly explained by the excellent performance of the activities of hotels, bars and restaurants (9.0 %), financial services (6.4 %), construction (4.7 %), agricultural sector (4.1 %), manufacturing of free zones (3.4 %), commerce (2.8 %) and local manufacturing (1.5 %), among others.

The agency highlights the excellent performance of construction, with favorable variation rates for the fourth consecutive month. In accumulated terms, the Monthly Economic Activity Indicator (IMAE) registered an average variation of 1.9% in January-October 2023 concerning the same period of the previous year, mainly due to the 10.8% expansion of hotels, bars, and restaurants, the activity that contributed the most to the growth this year and that explains approximately 40% of the same.

The excellent performance of hotels, bars, and restaurants is mainly due to the arrival of tourists, which in the first ten months of the year stood at 8.3 million, a historical record, and is expected to exceed 10 million visitors by the end of 2023, with foreign exchange income to the country amounting to more than 10 billion dollars.

Given the preliminary results corresponding to October, the issuing entity affirmed that the Dominican economy continues its recovery process to reach its potential growth rate in 2024.

According to the Central Bank, the strength of the macroeconomic fundamentals and the resilience of the productive sectors allow to continue advancing in the economic reactivation in a context where inflation would remain within the target range of 4.0 % ± 1.0 %.