KINGSTON – The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) yesterday said that the real gross domestic product (GDP) for the Jamaican economy grew by an estimated 1.5 per cent in the first three months of 2019 when compared to the corresponding period last year.
It said that the positive out-turn for the January to March 2019 period largely reflected the impact of increased external demand from Jamaica’s main trading partners, which supported increased exports of some goods and services, particularly tourism and alumina.
PIOJ said that increased domestic demand pushed by an increase in employment, as well as business and consumer confidence, also accounted for the positive out-turn.
It said that the increases in external and domestic demand were facilitated by the expansion in hotel room stock, air seat capacity and flight frequency, which facilitated growth in stopover visitor arrivals. (CMC)
