Jamaica Reports Positive GDP Growth

Above: Kingston (Caribbean Journal photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

After the country’s economy saw a 0.3 percent contraction in the last quarter of 2014, Jamaica is now reporting positive growth for the first quarter of 2014.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica reported this week that it was projecting growth of between 0.5 and 1.5 percent for the January-March period.

That outlook is based on “positive short-term prospects for several key sub-sectors in the goods producing and services industries,” according to PIOJ Director General Colin Bullock.

Notable among those sectors were hotels and restaurants and construction, which saw a benefit from an increase in visitor arrivals.

“This resulted in total visitor expenditure amounting to US$538.7 million, an increase of 7.4 per cent, relative to the corresponding quarter of 2013,” Bullock said.

Last month, visitor arrivals in Jamaica rose by 7 percent over January 2014, according to Bullock.