A release dispatched by the Grenada government says an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team has given a positive report about the Grenadian economy.
It says it’s continuing to grow robustly, supported by public and private construction and sustained strong tourism activity.
According to the release, the IMF team, led by Mr. Janne Hukka, visited Grenada for 3 days last week and has been looking at Grenada’s economic performance, describing the revenue performance as being strong and the near-term fiscal outlook improved, creating the fiscal space for higher public investment.
REPORT:
The IMF team met with authorities discussing recent economic developments and follow up on the policy priorities raised during the 2023 Article 4 Consultation.
The team, it’s said looked at the new Fiscal Resilience Act which includes important measures to simplify the existing rules-based framework and strengthen longer-term fiscal discipline.
The IMF Mission leader, Mr. Hukka, noted that the Grenadian economy in 2023 is expected to surpass its pre-pandemic level and that record revenues from the Citizenship-by-Investment programme have supported both public and private investment.
Mr. Hukka went on to state that key risks to the outlook include external shocks disrupting tourism or CBI (Citizenship By Investment) inflows, potential commodity price volatility amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty, and the ever-present risk of natural disasters.
The near-term fiscal outlook has improved with recent strong revenue performance, reflecting buoyant economic activity, as well as a surge in government CBI revenue, anticipated to normalize after the current backlog of CBI applications is cleared.
In part, he notes that the Central government debt remains on a downward path and the authorities are advancing an ambitious fiscal reform agenda. The Grenadian financial sector remains stable and liquid.
Encouraging all financial institutions to leverage the ECCU (Economic and Currency Union) regional credit bureau once it becomes operational, the report says, can mitigate credit quality risks and support local lending.
