Dominica’s economy “growing,” says finance minister
The Caribbean island of Dominica continues to see gradual growth in its economy for 2023, and if this persists, the government’s debt may even decrease slightly before the end of the year.
This is what Dr. Irving McIntyre, Minister for Finance, Economic Development, Climate Resilience, and Social Security, revealed in a recent press conference, citing primarily an Article 4 mission conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently.
“Dominica’s economy grew by an estimated 6.9 percent in 2021 and 5.7 percent in 2022,” McIntyre said.
According to him, the growth was driven mainly by “the construction of climate resilient infrastructure, a substantial rise in agriculture outputs, and the rebound in tourism since the lifting of restrictions related to covid-19.”
Another important factor is the revenue from the Citizenship By Investment (CBI) programme of the island.
“The government has been able to implement its Public Sector Investment Programme and respond to the recent economic shocks because of high CBI revenue,” McIntyre said.
Dominica’s CBI programme is one of the oldest programmes in the world, and has been consistently ranked as the best passport program for more than five times now. Last year, Dominica has kept the top spot and for the 2022 CBI Index review, besting 12 other nations with active CBI programmes.
The CBI programme has helped Dominica build better infrastructure, with private company MMC Development Ltd. leading the developments of residential projects, healthcare and educational institutions, and the international airport.
“Overall the economic outlook for Dominica is positive; although we need to remain mindful of the volatile global environment as well as possible impacts of future natural disasters,” McIntyre said, adding that the IMF advised to continue projects such as the International Airport and the Geothermal Development Project.
The finance minister also added that the “government’s debt is projected to decline slightly to 98.7 percent at the end of the calendar year 2023.”