Monthly Economic and Financial Developments, September 2014

Published: Tuesday November 4th, 2014

Indications are that the Bahamian economy’s mildly positive growth pace was sustained during the review month, supported by an improving tourism performance and foreign investment related construction activity. Gains were recorded in both air and sea arrivals, underpinned by targeted promotional campaigns to increase airlift to key domestic destinations. Nevertheless, signs are that labour market conditions remained challenging, owing to the narrowness of the recovery. Amid relatively stable to declining global oil prices, domestic inflation was subdued over the twelve-months to August—advancing, marginally, by 0.3 of a percentage point to 1.00%. In monetary developments, both liquidity and external reserves contracted in September, reflecting the traditional increase in foreign currency demand in the latter half of the year.

Preliminary data for the eight months to August showed total visitor arrivals increasing by 3.0% to 4.3 million, extending the previous year’s gain of 2.3%. The high value-added air segment rebounded by 3.6%, from a 6.3% reduction a year earlier, while growth in sea visitors slowed to 2.8% from 5.1%. By major port of entry, arrivals to New Providence were up by 2.3% to 2.5 million, occasioned by improvements in both sea (2.9%) and air (0.8%) passengers. A similar outcome was registered in the Family Islands, where total arrivals expanded by 8.9% to 1.3 million, reflecting a 10.0% surge in sea traffic and a 1.8% rise in the air component. In contrast, the number of visitors to Grand Bahama declined by 6.7% to 0.5 million, as the 12.6% contraction in the dominant sea segment offset the 38.9% expansion in air traffic.

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