SANTO DOMINGO.-The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported this Tuesday that the Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (IMAE) registered an accumulated year-on-year variation of 5.5% in the period January-August 2022, thus maintaining the same average growth exhibited during January-July, after having experienced an increase of 5.4% in August compared to the same month of the previous year.
He also reiterated that year-on-year inflation slowed from 9.64% in April to 8.80% in August.
He explained that the trend reflected by the Dominican economy this year places the projection of the expansion of the real gross domestic product (GDP) in a range between 5.0-5.5% for the end of 2022, around the potential rate, according to the forecasting system of the Central Bank.
Likewise, it indicates that international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) maintain a positive outlook for the Dominican economy.
"It is worth noting that this result demonstrates the strong macroeconomic fundamentals of the Dominican economy and that the country is on the right track, even in the context of the challenging international situation, which continues to be affected by high inflationary pressures," the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) said in a statement.
By sector
Analyzing in detail the sectoral behavior of January-August 2022, the Central Bank specified that the notable impact of services as a whole stands out, constituting approximately 60.0% of the total economy and showing an accumulated year-on-year variation of 7.5%.
He said that among the activities that make it up, it is worth highlighting the performance of hotels, bars and restaurants (31.2%), health (11.3%), other service activities (9.1%), public administration (7.8%), transport and storage (7.1%), trade (6.5%) and financial services (5.8%).
Regarding industries, activity in free trade zones grew 7.0%, local manufacturing 4.4% and construction 2.7%; while agriculture grew 3.4% in the aforementioned period.
Regarding inflation
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) noted that, as of August 2022, the monthly variation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 0.21%, the lowest in the last 27 months. Thus, year-on-year inflation slowed from 9.64% in April to 8.80% in August.
Likewise, core year-on-year inflation, which excludes the most volatile components of the basket, is beginning to show signs of moderation, going from 7.29% in May to 7.12% in August.
Looking ahead, the Central Bank indicates that forecast models suggest that headline inflation will continue to moderate in the coming months and will converge to the target range of 4.0% ± 1.0% by mid-2023.
