Prime Minister Harris Reports on Positive Economic Growth

(ZIZ News) – Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris said recent statistics gathered by his ministry suggest that the federation’s economy performed well in the first quarter of 2015, compared to that of last year.

The Prime Minister was at the time addressing leading businessmen and women at Saturday’s Private Sector Banquet, hosted by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

In his remarks, Dr. Harris revealed that projections indicated that for the first three months of 2015, the federation’s economy grew by 7.8 percent.

“This is showing an even better result than that what was achieved during the same period last year when the Ministry of Finance estimated a 4.8 percent growth for the first three months of 2014,” the Prime Minister stated. “Growth in the construction sector for the first quarter of 2015 has been estimated at 12.2 percent.”

He further stated that the tourism sector grew by 11.4 percent, reflecting increased activity; in comparison to a 7.8 percent growth during the same period in 2014.

“The main contributor to the strong performance was stay-over arrivals which grew by 12.9 percent largely reflecting increased airlift and more bodies of course. The cruise ship passenger arrivals also grew by 27.2 percent, consistent with an 11.7 percent increase in the number of cruise ship calls.”

Prime Minister Harris also underscored the importance of public-private sector partnerships to the federation’s economy.

He said, “The private sector is an essential pillar of the economy and must be part; must be rather a significant contributor to the economic achievements of this nation over the years. We therefore welcome the opportunity to build stronger public-private partnerships.”

The Finance Minister revealed that output in the manufacturing sector was pegged at 3.7 percent for the first quarter of 2015.