Economic and Financial Review - June 2019

June 2019 Economic and Financial Review GRENADA

doubled to 125,219 cubic yards. The slower rate of expansion of the sector was primarily influenced by a decline in private sector construction activity, due to the completion of the Silversands Grenada resort in the first half of 2019 and another luxury tourism property, in 2018. In the public sector, the completion of a major project, the Gouyave extreme rainfall project, also contributed to lower construction activity. Performance in the manufacturing sector is estimated to have declined during the period under review. This assessment is based on declines in output for the majority of the sub-categories of industrial production. Of industrial production, declines were observed in the beverages and tobacco component where production fell for most beverages. A reduction in output was reported for malt (24.1 per cent); stout (15.4 per cent); and beer (6.9 per cent), partly offset by increases in the production of soft drinks (9.9 per cent) and rum (2.0 per cent) respectively. Another sub- category, chemicals and paints, recorded a fall in production of two product types; acetylene and oxygen, respectively. Production of poultry feed was down by 6.5 per cent while that of wheat bran contracted by 5.6 per cent. Grain and

compared with an increase of 21.0 per cent in the comparable period of 2018.

Grenada Visitor Arrivals

Thousands

250.0

200.0

150.0

100.0

50.0

0.0

17 Q1

17 Q2

17 Q3

17 Q4

18 Q1

18 Q2

18 Q3

18 Q4

19 Q1

19 Q2

Stay-overs Cruise Ship Passengers

Yacht Passengers Excursionists

Positive spill-over effects, especially from growth in the tourism industry partly underpinned the performance of sectors such as wholesale and retail trade; and transport, storage and communications. The overall performance of the real sector was moderated by lackluster developments in some of the remaining sectors. The rate of construction activity is estimated to have declined in the first half of 2019, as evidenced by reductions in both the volume (7.4 per cent) and value (14.2 per cent) of imports of construction materials, a proxy indicator. This assessment was also supported by a 61.1 per cent reduction in the volume of stones produced at the quarry, in contrast to a 3.3 per cent rise in the first six months of 2018. The decline in the sector was partially mitigated by a sharp increase in the volume of sand, which more than

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Eastern Caribbean Central Bank