72 / 173
2018 Annual Economic and Financial Review
GRENADA
______________________________________________________________________________
62
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
salary increase was given to public servants
along with a one-off payment of a maximum
of $750 as compensation for the sacrifices
made during the home-grown structural
adjustment programme. These payments
amounted to approximately $7.3m.
Preliminary results of the second quarter 2018
Labour Force Survey indicated an
unemployment rate of 20.6 per cent, a decline
from the rate of 23.6 per cent at the end of
2017. Based on general economic trends, it is
assumed that the downward movement in the
unemployment rate was attributable to job
creation mainly in the tourism and
construction sectors.
Fiscal and Debt Developments
Fiscal policy in Grenada in 2018 continued
to be guided by the targets embedded in its
Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA). All the
fiscal targets were met during the period
under review.
This included the wage bill, the
primary surplus and the primary expenditure
targets. The operations of the central
government resulted in an overall surplus of
$136.9m (4.2 per cent of GDP), an increase
from the overall surplus of $91.6m
(3.0 per cent of GDP) in 2017. This outturn
was 71.4 per cent above the 2018 National
Budget Estimates and Expenditure and
reflected a better than anticipated revenue
performance along with lower capital
expenditure.
A primary surplus of $202.8m (6.2 per cent
of GDP) was registered, up from $172.6m
(5.7 per cent of GDP) in 2017, far exceeding
the target of a minimum of 3.5 per cent of
GDP. The overall surplus was partly used to
reduce debt levels and augment the
contingency fund. This laudable performance
mirrored enhanced compliance, greater
enforcement by the revenue collection
departments and containment of discretionary
expenditure.
A current account surplus of $137.2m
(4.2 per cent of GDP) was realized, which was
an increase from the surplus of $94.2m
(3.1 per cent of GDP) posted in 2017. Growth