By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti, Suriname and the Dominican Republic will post the Caribbean’s highest GDP growth rates i 2012, according to quarterly projections released Monday in the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook.

Haiti is projected to grow 4.5 percent this year, although that is lower than the 6 percent GDP growth rate projected in a recent report from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America.

Earlier this year, the IMF had projected Haiti’s economy to grow between 4.5 and 5.5 percent.

Both projections were far lower than an earlier World Economic Outlook in April, which anticipated Haiti’s economy to grow at a rate of 7.8 percent in 2012.

It’s not clear what led to the lower projection, although the IMF mentioned following its July visit that Haiti’s government needed to accelerate the pace of reconstruction.

The rate still remained the Caribbean’s highest in 2012, followed by the Dominican Republic and Suriname, both of which are projected to grow 4 percent this year.

As in the ECLAC report, the IMF projects Haiti to lead the Caribbean in 2013 as well, with a stronger 6.5 percent growth rate that matched the one projected by the UN.

The Dominican Republic is projected to grow 4 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2013.

Suriname, whose economy has been boosted by stronger commodity production, is projected to grow 4.5 percent as well in 2013.

The Latin America and Caribbean region as a whole is projected to grow 3.2 percent this year, a downgrade from its earlier projections this year.

To see the UN’s projections, click here.