Monthly Economic and Financial Developments September 2006

Published: Friday November 3rd, 2006

Preliminary data for the month of September revealed continued growth in economic activity, amid strong gains in domestic demand as evidenced in steady levels of construction investments and domestic credit growth.

In tourism developments, total visitor arrivals to the country for the first eight months of the year, declined by 3.5% vis-à-vis the same period a year earlier - led by a 5.7% contraction in sea traffic which offset the 1.1% firming in air visitors. This pattern was evident in outcomes for both New Providence and the Family Islands ports, where weakness in sea visitors outpaced gains in air visitors, for respective declines in total arrivals of 4.9% and 3.1%. On the contrary, the Grand Bahamian market experienced a 1.8% improvement in overall arrivals, buoyed by firming in sea visitors (3.3%) as air arrivals fell by 1.3%.

Price developments remained relatively mild, with consumer prices firming on a month-on-month basis, by 0.06% during August. Advances were mainly recorded for furniture & household operation (0.4%), food & beverages (0.2%) and clothing & footwear (0.1%), whereas the housing component declined marginally by 0.1%.

During September, the Government raised $100 million by way of a public domestic bond issue. The issue, which closed on September 20, 2006, was fully subscribed and was mainly taken up by the banking system, public sector entities and the private sector.

More Information: https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/publications/monthly-economic-and-financial-development-report/mefd-september-2006