Annual Economic and Financial Review -December 2018

2018 Annual Economic and Financial Review

DOMINICA

$13.4m recorded in the same period of the previous year. Hence, the capital programme was largely funded by the Government of Dominica. A current account surplus of $241.5m was registered in 2018 (17.8 per cent of GDP) compared with one of $176.0m (13.1 per cent of GDP) in 2017, largely reflecting an increase in current revenue. Current revenue grew by $93.7m to $714.4m (52.5 per cent of GDP), mainly influenced by a rise in tax revenue of $74.1m to $401.9m. More specifically, receipts from taxes on domestic goods and services surged by $64.3m to $251.3m, mostly due to upticks in value added tax ($52.1m) and excise tax ($9.8m). Also supporting the increase in tax revenue, revenue from taxes on international trade and transactions improved by $29.9m to $96.8m. This outturn was largely attributable to higher intakes of import duty ($13.1m) and customs service charge ($16.4m), a reflection of the surge in imports observed during the period under review. Revenue raised from direct taxes had a moderating effect as the intake from taxes on income and profit decreased by $18.3m to $47.0m. Receipts from taxes on property also contracted by $1.8m to $6.9m during the period under review.

Current expenditure grew by $28.2m to $472.8m (34.8 per cent of GDP) as all the main categories recorded higher outlays, apart from personal emoluments which declined by $20.1m, following the payment of a double salary in 2017. Payments for goods and services increased by $36.3m to $173.0m, partially associated with the maintenance of buildings, the procurement of professional and consultancy fees, and the purchase of medical and office supplies and equipment. Also contributing to the expansion in current expenditure, upticks in outlays were recorded for transfers and subsidies ($8.4m) mostly due to larger contributions to local institutions; and interest payments ($3.6m) which were primarily domestic. The central government’s fiscal operations were financed through a drawdown on their deposits with and an increase in credit from commercial banks. Meanwhile, the government’s indebtedness to external creditors declined through the amortisation of loans from both multilateral and bilateral entities. Total disbursed outstanding debt of the public sector has provisionally decreased to $1,037.5m (76.3 per cent of GDP) in 2018 from $1,043.8m in 2017 (77.8 per cent of GDP). This outturn was largely attributable to

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