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Thursday, 15 May 2008
Declines in most sectors and marginal increases in a few were the main features of the Planning Institute of Jamaica's (PIOJ) review of the economy between January and March of this year.
At the PIOJ's quarterly press briefing on Thursday morning, Director General Wesley Hughes indicated that inflation for the period was 5.2%.
This he said was due to increased fuel costs, increases in food costs, housing, water and electricity.
The PIOJ noted that there was an 7.2% increase in the price of food and non alcoholic beverages, 3.7% in the cost of housing water and electricity and a 6.8% increase in some goods and services.
"These three categories combined account for 70% of the overall inflation during the quarter. Increased prices during the quarter were mainly attributed to the decline in agricultural output due to the lagging effects of the hurricane, the rainfall and other shocks. Included in this were rising commodity prices compared to the last quarter of last year," said Dr. Hughes.
One major feature of the period was the noted decline in most sectors.
Goods production declined by 2.4% while agriculture got a drastic blow as it slumped with a dismal 14.1% drop.
This PIOJ Director General said was due to after-shocks from Hurricane Dean and destructive October to December rains.
Transportation and Communication, together recorded a .04% decline.
Growth was seen in few areas.
The construction sector boomed with major hotel projects on the North Coast, major airport improvement projects and continued road works.
The Financial and Insurance sector also saw an increase as it grew by 2% with Commercial bank activities increasing in the period.
Jamaicans spent more on recreation, as the restaurant, hotel and club sector recorded growth of 9.1%.
Despite all this Dr. Hughes is projecting that there would not be much of a change in inflation in the next three months.
"Our projection for the upcoming quarter is for growth to be between 0.5% and 1.1%. We expect the services sector to grow between .9% and 1.3% and for the goods producing sector to be relatively flat between 0% and 0.8%," he continued.
Declines in most sectors and marginal increases in a few were the main features of the Planning Institute of Jamaica's (PIOJ) review of the economy between January and March of this year.
At the PIOJ's quarterly press briefing on Thursday morning, Director General Wesley Hughes indicated that inflation for the period was 5.2%.
This he said was due to increased fuel costs, increases in food costs, housing, water and electricity.
The PIOJ noted that there was an 7.2% increase in the price of food and non alcoholic beverages, 3.7% in the cost of housing water and electricity and a 6.8% increase in some goods and services.
"These three categories combined account for 70% of the overall inflation during the quarter. Increased prices during the quarter were mainly attributed to the decline in agricultural output due to the lagging effects of the hurricane, the rainfall and other shocks. Included in this were rising commodity prices compared to the last quarter of last year," said Dr. Hughes.
One major feature of the period was the noted decline in most sectors.
Goods production declined by 2.4% while agriculture got a drastic blow as it slumped with a dismal 14.1% drop.
This PIOJ Director General said was due to after-shocks from Hurricane Dean and destructive October to December rains.
Transportation and Communication, together recorded a .04% decline.
Growth was seen in few areas.
The construction sector boomed with major hotel projects on the North Coast, major airport improvement projects and continued road works.
The Financial and Insurance sector also saw an increase as it grew by 2% with Commercial bank activities increasing in the period.
Jamaicans spent more on recreation, as the restaurant, hotel and club sector recorded growth of 9.1%.
Despite all this Dr. Hughes is projecting that there would not be much of a change in inflation in the next three months.
"Our projection for the upcoming quarter is for growth to be between 0.5% and 1.1%. We expect the services sector to grow between .9% and 1.3% and for the goods producing sector to be relatively flat between 0% and 0.8%," he continued.
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