Jamaica economy grows 6% in March quarter
Published:Wednesday | June 1, 2022 | 11:55 AMSteven Jackson - Senior Business Reporter
The Jamaica economy grew six per cent in the first quarter of 2022, due to increased activity in the services sector, the Planning Institute of Jamaica reported on Wednesday.
Services grew 8.9 per cent while the goods producing industry expanded by 2.1 per cent relative to the March 2021 period.
“This quarter reflected the fourth consecutive quarter of growth,” said Director General of the PIOJ Dr Wayne Henry during his quarterly economic briefing.
For the fiscal year ending March, which incorporates four quarters, the PIOJ estimates the economy grew 8.1 per cent relative to fiscal year 2021.
A year ago, the economy suffered contractions due to the renewed imposition of COVID-19 public health and social measures to manage the spread of the virus.
The outturn for January-March 2022 largely reflected increased external demand, especially for Jamaica’s tourism product, facilitated by a relaxation of COVID-19 measures and lifting of travel restrictions, Henry said.
Local demand also increased with higher levels of employment and operating hours as more industries gradually returned to normalcy. This was particularly evident in the performance of the agriculture sector, and wholesale and retail trade, repair and installation of machinery and other services, he said.
However, the level of economic growth was tempered by various factors, including: the emergence of the omicron variant of the virus, which led to a spike in COVID-19 cases in January; worsening supply chain disruptions; and the damper on the mining sector, which is still plagued by the closure of the Jamalco alumina plant following the fire there last August.
PIOJ projects the economy will grow by 2 to 4 per cent in the April-June quarter.
“It is based on the continuation of the recovery process relative to the low output levels recorded in the corresponding period of 2021,” said Henry. “This projection is supported by the further relaxation of COVID-19 containment measures.”