Skerrit predicts Dominica’s economy will grow

ROSEAU, Dominica, Friday July 25, 2014, CMC – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is projecting growth in the country’s economy in the new financial year.

In his presentation of the 2013/2014 budget on Wednesday, Skerrit told Parliament that estimates show the economy will grow by 1.5 percent in 2014
He said the main contributors to growth have been agriculture, construction, manufacturing and tourism.

Concerning the agriculture al sector, Skerrit said the government is concerned that growth is being compromised by new and emerging diseases such as Black Sigatoka and the Citrus Greening disease.

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However, with a combination of methods, including the use of pesticides, cutting down infected fields and obtaining new planting materials Dominica is expected to win the war over these diseases.

Within the construction industry, the Prime Minister said infrastructural works undertaken by the government is likely to boost the construction sector.

He said growth in the sector has been supported by a series of government policies including the housing revolution.

“Whether it was created through special loan facilities at the AID Bank and the government Housing Loan Board or through the Housing and Sanitation Program, the construction sector has been positively impacted.”

Where tourism is concerned, he said the sector has seen “mixed fortunes” in terms of growth from 2009 to 2013, averaging one percent with a high of 8.2 percent in 2011.

“This sector is the one that has been most directly affected by the global crisis which started in 2008, hence the 2009 result is not surprising,” he said. “This along with decrease in cruise arrivals meant the level of growth desired in the tourism sector has not been achieved, however preliminary estimates suggest that despite the 1.6 percent decline in 2012, activity in the sector strengthened during 2013 with estimated growth of 2 percent.”

He said activity in the manufacturing sector has remained positive in the past three years with 3.4 percent growth estimated in 2013 with two percent growth expected in 2014.

“The performance in the various sub sectors change from time to time but the imperative is to always find the measures which will encourage growth,” Skerrit said.
He noted that the record of his government in terms of fiscal management “is well known.”

“There has been challenges created by external shocks, such as the impact of the global financial crisis and weather related events and disasters,” he noted. “Despite these, government continues to maintain fiscal discipline while safeguarding the poor and vulnerable.”

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Skerrit predicts Dominica’s economy will grow

Malik predicts "huge" success for LCPL

Sport

Friday, August 23, 2013

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik of the Barbados Tridents has predicted that the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL) will become “huge” after the success of the ongoing inaugural tournament.“After the IPL and the Big Bash League you can take this as third (in the world) and it is just the first year,” said Malik.“The response from the West Indies people has been awesome. Whenever you are playing a league it is about people coming to the ground; that is the key to success, and I have seen that here”.Malik has been one of the stars of the show as the leading batsman with 223 runs from seven innings, as well as three wickets.His side — led by Kieron Pollard — is getting ready to face Chris Gayle’s Jamaica Tallawahs in today’s second semi-final.“People have been coming from everywhere,” said Malik, still only 31 despite being a veteran of 32 Tests, 216 One-Day Internationals and 53 Twenty20 Internationals.“I was talking to the Jamaica players and they were saying ‘we were not expecting much of a crowd in Jamaica’, but we played there and even in a day game I saw the ground full and energetic.”The Limacol CPL has been a re-birth for Malik, who slipped out of international reckoning for Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe.However, during the LCPL preliminary round he has not only been a star with the bat but has also featured prominently with the ball, relishing pitches that have often assisted the slower bowlers.“I was struggling with my shoulder and my elbow, but I have had surgery for my elbow and I have worked hard in the gym every day,” he said.“Now I am absolutely fine. I can even bowl 30 overs in one day. I am very happy and I want to play as an all-rounder; that is my priority,” Malik ended.

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Malik predicts "huge" success for LCPL

FX study predicts 1.7% growth due to dollar slide

JAMAICA needs to boost exports to gain from a dollar projected to lose more than one-quarter of its value in 2013, says economist Dr Vanus James.

James made the observation while launching his report on the exchange rate on Wednesday. The study noted that depreciation of the projected amount, 28 per cent, would result in growth of some 1.79 per cent. That equates to the highest growth in years, but James indicated that it needs to be supported by real sector production.“The data is saying that you have to set an exchange rate that facilitates what you have to do on the real side,” he indicated in his address at the Edward Seaga Research Institute at the University of the West Indies.James, a University of Technology professor, is known for his landmark 2007 study on the size of the local copyright industry.“When you have a real exchange rate that is appreciating, that is going to bite you on the exports side. You have to be careful to allow some depreciation to discipline the market.”The 85-page technical report, entitled “Exchange Rate, Economic Structure and Economic Performance in Jamaica”, answered three main questions on the exchange rate, but always returned to the issue of production.“The story is right here,” he stated, pointing to a letter strewn within several stacks of equations on the effect of the dollar slide on the economy over decades. It was a symbol indicating the importance of production.“The problem you have here is on the real side. You have to solve that problem of how to industrialise,” he said.Currency depreciation cheapens exports and thereby increases the global competitiveness of products.But the report found that the real exchange rate actually “appreciated” at a rate of 1.5 per cent per annum since 2000 (presumably factoring in US inflation).Fast-forward to this current round of depreciation, the study found that the dollar nominally dipped seven per cent in 2012, with projections that it could dip by multiples by year-end.“The current path of depreciation will lead to about 28 per cent depreciation over 2013,” indicated the study, on page 76. However, importantly, the research found that the “net gain from a one per cent depreciation is growth of 0.064 per cent”, which would translate to 1.9 per cent growth.“Thus, while significant, both effects are highly inelastic and so very small compared to the effects of sound monetary policy and the industrialisation of the economy based on rising exports of output, especially from the domestic capital sector,” he continued on page 76.The currency surpassed the symbolic $100 to US$1 earlier this year, following a rapid double-digit depreciation over 12 months.The study was commissioned by the Edward Seaga Research Institute and sponsored by a grant from PanJamaica Investment Trust and Jamaica National Building Society, and the ICWI Group Foundation.The report, according to its author, examines the relationship between the exchange rate regime and economic performance such as inflation, restructuring and growth in Jamaica. It considers whether there is a performance cost of varying rather than fixing the exchange rate and seeks estimates of the cost. The report also seeks to determine an optimal exchange rate regime for Jamaica — whether a floating rate or a fixed rate. It also finds that instead of a crawling peg, the economic dynamics favour a fairly strict-managed float, complemented by solution of the real-sector problems of high energy and other import costs and structural change.

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FX study predicts 1.7% growth due to dollar slide