MEFD April

Published: Monday May 31st, 2021

During the month of April, domestic economic activity continued to be dominated by the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), despite the rollout of vaccines. Specifically, internationally imposed travel restrictions to contain the spread of the virus continued to adversely affect the tourism sector, with the high value-added air component still sharply curtailed, while the sea segment remained on pause. Nonetheless, foreign investment-led projects and post-hurricane rebuilding works provided support to the construction sector. Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit widened considerably during the nine months of FY2020/2021, attributed to the Government’s increasing COVID-19 related spending and the falloff in revenue collections, combined with outlays still for post-hurricane reconstruction works. Monetary developments featured a modest increase in bank liquidity, despite domestic credit growth that surpassed the expansion in the deposit base. Further, external reserves recorded a modest growth during the review month, reflective of the slight uptick in foreign currency inflows though the private sector, due to the partial resumption in air visitors.

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