GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication, hereby informs the business community and investors that the Half Year 2013 Macro Monitor Report is available on the Government website.
The report covers the period January to June 2013 and provides an overview of the macro-economic developments of the country.
A brief overview of the key indicators for 2013 includes; Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projected at approximately 1.1%. This low growth projection is based on the performance of the external sector for the period January to June 2013, in which cruise arrivals have decreased with 5.48%, while stay-over arrivals only experienced a 1.43% increase.
The Department of Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication's preliminary projections for cruise tourism for 2013 stands to decrease with 4.8% while stay over is projected to increase with 1.6%. The occupancy rate showed 2% increase for the first half of 2013 when compared to the same period of 2012.
For the reporting period, Government revenues amounted to an estimated Naf. 218 million. This indicates an overall decrease by 2% when compared to the first half of 2012.
This decrease was notably in the categories of Profit Tax with 2% decrease and tax on households with 10% decrease. Wage Tax however, increased by 4% for the reporting period. Also, there was a decrease in Transfers from Abroad of 23%, which are basically residents' deposits.
Visit www.sintmaartengov.org; go to tab "Government," scroll down to "Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications" link, go to "Department of Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications" and select the link "Economic Reports" and then select "Half Year 2013 Macro Monitor Report" for download.