Service and construction sector grows by 4.6% -Report finds this is the highest in eight years

Aug 21, 2019 News

Based on the findings of the Mid-Year Report 2019, which was presented by the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, the service sector is estimated to have grown by 4.6 percent in the first half of 2019.
According to the report this percentage is the highest half-year rate since 2011.
This increase was driven by wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, financial and insurance activities, rental of dwellings, and other service activities, which grew by 5.9 percent, 5.5 percent, 4.1 percent, 5.9 percent, and 10 percent, respectively.
The reports added that that such a momentum is expected to continue into the second half of the year, as signaled by businesses in the services sector increasing their borrowing by 7.2 percent in the first half.
Moreover, the findings of the report indicated that there has been increased borrowing for real estate of 5.7 percent, which has contributed to an estimated 8.2 percent growth in the construction sector over the same period.
Also contributing to the sector’s growth was Government expenditure on construction activities, through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP), which increased by 12.4 percent in the first half of 2019.
According to the Minister’s statistics reflected in the report, in 2019, the services sector is expected to grow by 4.3 percent, which is 0.6 percentage points above the projection in Budget 2019, while growth in the construction sector is anticipated to remain unchanged from the initial projection of 10.5 percent. 3.15
At the time of Budget 2019, the economy was forecast to grow at a rate of 4.6 percent in 2019. This was later revised downwards to 4.4 percent in April 2019, given the better-than-expected outturn for 2018.
Based on the performance of the various sectors in the first half of 2019, the projected growth rate for this year has been revised upwards to 4.5 percent.

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