Luke Douglas
Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica Dr Wayne Henry.
Output from the Jamaican economy contracted by 5.7 per cent for the quarter ending March 2021 compared with the first quarter of 2020 but is expected to grow by as much as nine per cent in the current quarter.
This is despite double-digit growth in the construction sector during the period.
This is according to the preliminary estimates of the country’s economic performance, released by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) on Tuesday (June 2).
The PIOJ said the contraction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reflected the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but said the rate of decline was lowest since the pandemic began in March last year.