Hurricane-battered Dominica is the only Caribbean country to register negative growth in its economy in 2018, a report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has shown.
However, the latest Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere shows the news is not all that bad as the IMF is forecasting growth for the island in 2019.
According to the report, released late last week, Dominica is expected to register negative growth in 2018 of minus 16.3 percent but will nonetheless increase to 12.2 percent in 2019.
Grenada is expected to register the highest growth for the next two years, pegged at 3.6 percent; while Guyana’s growth is put at 3.5 percent this year, growing to 3.7 the following year.
According to the IMF St Kitts-Nevis will register economic growth of 3.5 percent this year, dropping to 3.2 percent the following year; Antigua and Barbuda, which will register 3.5 percent growth this year, will fall to three percent in 2019.
The Bahamas’ economic growth for 2018 will be 2.5 percent, dropping to 2.2 percent next year.
The IMF figures show that St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Haiti will all register economic growth of more than two percent in 2018, remaining almost stagnant the following year.
The report shows that Latin America and Caribbean region on a whole is expected to increase from 1.3 percent in 2017 to two percent in 2018, while in 2019, the IMF forecasts growth to continue to pick up to 2.8 percent.
Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica on September 18, 2017 when the Category 5 Hurricane made landfall.
The island was still recovering from Tropical Storm Erika which struck in August 2015.
The hurricane is reportedly Dominica’s worst natural disaster—with more than thirty deaths and damage estimated at US$1.3 billion (225 percent of GDP).
In a report published in January 2018, the IMF said that the revenue of the government of Dominica might take years to reach pre-Hurricane Maria levels.
Hey hey Duh…Dominica is one of the only TWO Caribbean COUNTRIES hit by a devastating cat 5 hurricane in fiscal year 2017/2018, hence the 2018 figures. The other is Antigua, however only the Isle of Barbuda was hit with cat 5, not the main island Antigua (cat 2). The other islands hit are StT, SM, Tortola & PR which are not countries. Let us see others got hit by cat 5 record growth. Grenada was hit by cat5 Ivan twice (Ivan backtracked on them) followed by negative growth. Sadly, as many as 135 people committed suicide then. Folks it’s not easy, but commenting on DNO is easy.
Please read and understand my people – this is basic maths! An increase from -16.3% in 2018 to -12.2% in 2019! This is a positive move up the negative side of the number line! There is no positive 12.2% in this equation, only a minus 12.2%. “According to the report, released late last week, Dominica is expected to register negative growth in 2018 of minus 16.3 percent but will nonetheless increase to 12.2 percent in 2019.” A move from -16.3% in 2018 to -12.2% in 2019 is indeed an increase in number, but still negative growth! Sadly, Dominica’s economic growth will be on the negative side of the number line for more years to come!
The fiscal year is July to June; how can this statement be correct?
I’M not attacking anybody now someone mentioned freedom of speech you having a laugh there’s no such thing as freedom of speech, otherwise we all would be slandering making false accusations against each other and could not be Sued, and if your boss said to you get on with your job you say F*** to him/her you would be on your bike ..
can someone please explain to me, like i am a 3 year old child, why a country with a populatioon of 65000 has 19 cabinet ministers, can someone please explain.
Simple. Jobs for the boys.
Well you can’t be surprise! After all the only jobs being created is cleaning the roadsides. Not one factory producing products I mean so much resources we got and they just laying around…Imports higher than exports by thousands.. I mean be realistic.. all other Caribbean countries improving except us.. look at the conditions of the roads. If the government wasn’t getting this monies from international agencies where would we be? We have no money to build ourselves
YOW, How on earth can anyone or country move forward with idiots like you lots workers calamity supporters and also worms infected by black Adder Linton, PAPPY come on you are more intelligent than Lennox Linton and the mules that sound like a RUM shop band singing for a shots of cheap RUM.
Looks like that positive 12 is actually negative 3. Something and all I hearing is party politics
Dominican stop this….why are you so negative about your country do you have the federal government to give you money to help build back your country no you don’t…so then its dominican who have to rebuild their country so tourist can come and visit and stay to spend money in the country. Dominican please stop this you are hurting your country wake up skritt bread butter lenox bread butter.so start to rebuild your damm country and stop trashing your country smash on those who do this.
You can only go up from here…hopefully
Boss the Roseau River only flows down… There ain’t no going up from here, hopefully, with this oversized crooked government captained by an acolyte turned prime minister
So you only want a picture of doom not gloom eh.
The government is much too bloated in comparison to the size of the population. Too much of the State’s revenue goes to salaries, perks and allowances for Ministers of Government. This certainly contributes to the mismanagement of the country’s financial resources. The government should tap into the brain power of its human resources for ideas that work. Dominica have some brilliant minds, put them to work. Abandon the politics of exclusion for it deprives the country of some of its most valuable resources. Why should someone be deprived from working for the government because of political differences? Most family members living under one roof have their squabbles and differences but they still live together for the best interest of the family. A country can never do well when victimization, discrimination and hyper political partisanship is rampant.
Who loves dominica,
Who abuses dominica
we should all ask ourself that question
What else is new. Hon Lennox Linton has been telling Dominicans, before Ericka and Maria, Dominica, when compared to the rest of the Caribbean Islands, has been last in everything, in terms of economic growth, tourism, export, doing business with the rest of the world, but we are first in corruption and selling passports, especially to rogues, vacabons and crooks.
@ Roy Williams, What else do you expect from black adder Lennox Linton, This guy could not work out his left foot from his right hand, and also you ROY WILLIAMS, is just as stupid as the man his self.
That’s all you’re worth,insults!comment on the article,are they lying,are you satisfied with negative growth?
All I did was to mention Hon. Lennox Linton’s name, it appears to have hurt a dog, now that dog is attacking me. Dogs must understand, human being have, what is referred to as, freedom of speech.
@Dog Biter. You, Mr. Dog Man, has a lot of deficiencies. That’s the reason for your deplorable behavior. You lack education, intelligence, common decency, commonsense, the ability to reason rationally. You are saturated with hate, ignorance, anger, absurdity and dark heartedness. The world will be a much better place without you. You are a demonically depraved individual.
LENOX BREAD BUTTER SKRITT BREAD BUTTER is your BREAD BUTTER? YOU Dominican are so negative about your country stop cretizing your home in America you would never criticized the country in public .STOP THIS madness REBUILD your country.
What Surprise!!…Skerrit well glad Maria take out some shame in his eyes…Dominicans demand little and so they get little. Skerrit on the other hand and his Ministers, get a lot..them ppl doh care. Hirricane or no Hurricane, see the state of the Country!!..The economy has never boomed under Skerrit…for 18 years Dominicans have been hoping for better…and it would seem that more monies pour in, is worse the situation becomes..Dominicans wake up..everybody can’t run and leave the Country, this is terrible terrible governance my people..it’s appalling that Dominicans take that for granted.
We are only five months into 2018. I would suggest the reference point should be 2017 when the economic effect of TS Erika could be factored into economic performance.
i swear this issue with stagnant and slow growth started from 2013!!????………………………ummmm so this would me that it wasn’t the effects TS Erika or Hurricane Maria…. they just simple speed up the unraveling
What does Hon. Hustle- Joseph Isaac has to say about that????
so you mean even antigua and barbuda even tortola had positive growth. St marten also. Means they were doing that well, that despite hurricanes they had positive growth. but we contiue to paint a picture that all is well here. We are prosperous.
This report is “Fake News”; did the Punjab PhD mention to the IMF the $300 million plus that he had hidden in Royal Bank and other clandestine areas around the world in dubious accounts. The guy boasts all the time that our economy is the best and doing so great but yet he gets so mad every time the hard working public servants ask for their just rewards.
What can be expected when the full blown DLP Cabal cabinet is as follows:
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit – Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Investments, Housing and Lands
Hon. Reginald Austrie – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture Food and Fisheries
Hon. Levi A. Peter – Attorney General
Hon. Dr. John Colin McIntyre – Minister for Public Works, Water Resource Management and Ports
Hon. Joseph Isaac Minister for the Environment, Climate Resilience, Disaster Management and Urban Renewal
Hon. Dr. Kenneth Darroux – Minister for Health and Social Services
Hon. Senator Miriam Blanchard – Minister for Planning, and Economic Development
Hon. Senator Robert Tonge – Minister for Tourism and Culture
Hon. Catherine Lady Daniel – Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, Family and Gender Affairs
Part 2)
Hon. Justina Charles – Minister for Youth, Sports, and Constituency Empowerment
Hon. Rayburn Blackmoore – Minister for Justice, Immigration and National Security
Hon. Senator Francine Baron – Minister for Foreign and CARICOM Affairs
Hon. Ian Douglas – Minister for Trade, Energy and Employment
Hon. Petter Saint. Jean – Minister for Education and Human Resource Development
Hon. Roslyn Paul – Minister for Commerce, Enterprise and Small Business Development
Hon. Kelver Darroux – Minister for Information, Science, Telecommunications and Technology
Hon. Cassius Darroux – Minister for Kalinago Affairs
Hon. Johnson Drigo – Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Lands
Hon. Ivor Stephenson – Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Services
why so many minister to run the country? why arent we ding better if we have all these. maybe a case of too many cooks.
there’s too many Darrouxs for such a small place
seriouly..all that monies skerrit got..love you skerrit but chk yorself..but we realky eh need a change off gouvelma ..only if is a new party..cause i kn alotviff dominican will suck salt…can a new party honest and younger ppl who havr love can form a new party pls
young people are never respected here.
Ideas like yours reveal the real issues in Dominica. It is clear this Gov’t is not working and while you pay penance , you do nothing to get them out. There is a viable alternative right now in Dominica..Party Loyals killing Dominica
Getting aid is not economic growth. If you and others have not realized that Maria destroyed the agricultural sector and did serious damage to the tourism sector you all sleeping. Anyone who expects dominica after seven month to be back to normal has to be a profound idiot.
Some body lying, man!
https://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/general/pm-skerrit-says-investors-flocking-to-dominica-after-maria/comment-page-1/#comment-2866915
Investors recognize that there are many opportunities in Dominica. This has nothing to do with growth. When people invest in Dominica growth will be realized. To expect any growth in the first year after such been hit by a category 5 Hurricane like Maria is foolhardy. The government must be complimented for sturdying the ship in such chartered waters. Thing are stabilized and the recovery process is moving at a faster pace than was expected by the international community. Support Dominica and stop politicking
Wait…………what madness is dis boy. I just finish reading about Skerrit’s utterances that investors are flocking to Dominica to invest, they have confidence in the government [of Skerrit] and Dominica and and how ‘people’ calling and want to know when next Dominica selling treasury bills……….and yada yada yada.
I refresh the DNO page only to be greeted by this article. Oh hello there. What really going on here boy. WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN DAT COUNTRY DERE!!!!!! Somebody telling lies – bold-faced lies and I want to know who it is.
Between the article of Skerrit saying investors are flocking to Dominica and this IMF report, anyone want to take a clever guess as to who is once again telling brazen lies?
Dominicans are their own worst enemy, they don’t want to face the reality, oh yes D/ca is gonna develop by selling passports. Wait still Melesse will give allu a giftbasket
We all know what those lazy laborites gonna say, Maria that do that…
@Floridan Diaspora – Somebody need to ask these ‘silly’ Labourites and sycophants of Skerrit how comes the other islands north of Dominica that were also impacted by hurricanes last year – some of these islands got a double-lash from Irma and Maria – somehow have not registered negative growth based on the IMF report.