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Financial News

Dec 2014 Financial News

Growth anticipated in 2015 (Barbados)

Dec 17, 2014

THERE are promising prospects for Barbados in the areas of tourism, foreign direct investment and energy, and a Government Minister is predicting that the economy will grow between 1.5 to 2 per cent in 2015.

Noting that the expected performance of the economy is between 0 and 0.3 per cent this year, Minister of Finance, Christopher Sinckler, revealed that the stabilisation and growth that are anticipated will be led primarily by the tourism and hospitality sector, which has been witnessing improvements.

In the House of Assembly yesterday morning, he spoke to those improvements, which have shown that at the end of last month, arrivals from the United Kingdom (UK) had increased by 9.1 per cent over the same period last year. This, he pointed out, is extremely important, because the UK is the market which has always recorded the highest expenditure per tourist.

Meanwhile, he disclosed that airlift from the United States and Canada will increase by 9 per cent and 23 per cent respectively, for this winter season. Additionally, he said tourism value-added is estimated to have increased by 0.6 per cent so far for the year, and is forecast to grow 3.6 per cent in 2015.

“Importantly, the period October 1 to November 29, 2014, saw a stabilisation of arrivals from the USA, up 0.1 per cent and Canada, up 0.7 per cent, after a series of declines.

Total long stay arrivals for the period October 1 to November 29 were up 5 per cent over the same period last year, with a 14.3 per cent increase in arrivals from the UK, a 20.5 per cent increase in arrivals from Germany, an 11.9 per cent increase in arrivals from the rest of Europe and a 115.1 per cent increase in arrivals from Brazil,” he informed the House.
He contended that Government’s decisions to change the investment matrix in tourism with the granting of the so-called Sandals concessions, which are now being accessed by the wider industry, complemented the aggressive efforts at increasing airlift into the country, and resulted in the outcomes now being seen.

Referring to other projections, the Minister said Barbados’ economy is expected to receive a much needed boost of new foreign direct investment of over BDS $1.5 billion over the next two years. This, he said, will facilitate job creation, spending during construction, and increased tourism value-added, once the projects have been completed.

Sinckler was speaking primarily of several multi-million dollar private sector investments including Sandals at Casuarina and the Beaches at Almond; the new Hyatt Hotel to be located in Bridgetown; and the new multi-faceted family resort at Sam Lord’s to be managed by the Wyndham properties.

Additionally, he said that the remodelling and reintroduction of Sandy Beach and Amaryllis properties to the local tourism market; and the complete rebuild of the old Settlers Beach Hotel into a new up-market villa hospitality establishment; the Beachlands Villa Project; the high-end residences project at the Crane and the multi-million dollar Kings Beach Villa Project, will also boost the economy.

“The great thing about all of this investment, is that it is occurring within the foreign exchange earning sectors, and, with the exception of the Sam Lord’s project, they are all private sector developments. This together with our continued push in building our international business and financial services platform, to protect and grow this vital sector, along with the very exciting expansion in alternative energy production and consumption, augur extremely well for further growth and diversification of our economy going forward,” he added.

He also revealed that years of talk about potential oil and natural gas reserves off the shores of this country is about to bear fruit. Sinckler said Barbados has initialled an exploration licence with the international oil exploration giant, BHP Billiton, to begin the search for these energy sources, and he said the “prospects look exceedingly promising” for this aspect of the energy sector.

His comments came as he indicated that Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Freundel Stuart, will soon make a public announcement on the venture, when he and the principals of the Australian company official sign the formal documents. (JRT)

 

Source:
Barbados Advocate
Wednesday December 17, 2014

http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=40534