ARTICLE - HAITI ECONOMY - GROWTH OF 7.8%

HAITI'S ECONOMY TO GROW 7.8 PERCENT, LEAD CARIBBEAN IN 2012: IMF REPORT
(Caribbean Journal) -

Haiti’s Gross Domestic Product is projected to grow by 7.8 percent in 2012, according to the recently-released World Economic Outlook from the International Monetary Fund.

Haiti’s projected growth comes after a reported 5.6 percent growth rate in 2011, according to the Fund.

The rate comes largely from reconstruction efforts following the devastating earthquake in the country in 2012.

That number represents the highest projected growth of any country in the Caribbean.

Suriname, with a projected growth of 4.9 percent, has the second-highest projected number.

The projection is in line with a United Nations report from December which pegged the country’s 2012 growth rate at 8 percent.

The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere, released Wednesday, projects growth for the region at 3.75 percent this year, before returning to about 4 percent in 2013.

According to the fund, the Caribbean “finally turned the corner” in 2011 after a long recession, although high debt levels and tourism dependence continue to constrain the region’s economic outlook.