SVG’s economy ‘is stronger than it was a year ago’ — Camillo

The Vincentian economy is performing better year-on-year, evidenced by increased government and private sector revenue, says Minister of Finance, Camillo Gonsalves.

“The Vincentian economy today is stronger than it was a year ago. It continues to rebound from the multiple challenges that we faced — the challenges of COVID, of the volcanic eruptions, of hurricanes Elsa and Beryl,” Gonsalves said on WE FM.

“And we are seeing definite signs of, not only further economic growth, which is important, but more important, greater development in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said.

The minister said that from “a strictly numbers standpoint”, as of the end of April, government revenues were “tracking ahead of what we had predicted”.

Total revenues and grants at the end of April were EC$292 million, compared to the EC$289 million that the government had forecast in its best-case scenario.

“At the same point last year, we’re at $250 million, and the year before that, in 2023, we were at $215 million,” Gonsalves said.

“So, we’re bringing in more revenue, which is, obviously, a good thing, and the measures of economic activity … all of those numbers are trending in a direction that suggests to us that economic activity is increasing in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.”

He said these numbers include port receipts, excise duties on imports and value-added tax receipts.

“At the same time, we are also spending, on the capital side, more money than we have spent in the past,” he said, adding that this is because of spending on major infrastructural projects reconstruction in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.

“As the Prime Minister said many times, we’re already done in excess of repaired or rebuilt in excess of 4,000 houses … since Beryl,” the finance minister said, adding that the target is 10,000 homes this year.

“… that’s not including the port and all the roads and the bridges and the schools and the clinics that are being built,” he said, of the EC$600 million port being built in Kingstown.

Gonsalves said the government has recorded so far this year “over $75 million” in capital expenditure, compared to EC$42 million up to the same point of 2024 and EC$27 million in 2023.

“… when I say that last year we had reached 42 million at this point, remember that last year … we spent $520 million on capital expenditure, which is the first time ever that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has crossed the half a billion dollar mark in its capital expenditure,” the finance minister said.

“And as you can see, we’re almost double that at this point of the year in terms of where we’re tracking,” he said.

At the same time, so far this year, current expenditure, which includes wages and salaries, was around EC$280 million and “ticking upwards, but it’s holding more or less steady.

“It’s about 5% higher than it was last year. That reflects salary increases, that reflects increments, that reflects a few additional people who have been hired,” Gonsalves said.

“So, the overall position on the fiscal side is that we are taking in more money, we’re making more money, that economic activity is higher than it was a year ago and the year before that, but correspondingly, we’re also spending more money because we have a lot of things to do, and critical among those things is the recovery from the natural disaster, Hurricane Beryl.”

He siad that to measure economic activity, the government engages the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, asking them to poll their membership about their growth prospects and revenues.

“And that data from the Chamber of Commerce is corresponding with what we’re seeing in the numbers.”

The minister did not quote specific businesses, saying the did not want to violate their proprietary or competitive rights.

He, however, siad the CIC provided data from interviews with Eastern Caribbean Metals, Eastern Caribbean Group of Companies, St. Vincent Brewery, McDowald Holdings (owners of Kendra’s Aluminum and Mayah Suites), Accardo, Coreas Distribution, Facey Trading, the subsidiaries of Coreas Hazels,  E.D. Laynes & Sons, Digicel, and, among others, Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (BoSVG).

“And what we have seen from that survey data corresponds with what we’ve been seeing,” Gonsalves said, adding that in the warehouse and distribution sector, companies, including Acado, Facey and and Premium Products, are reporting growth of 8-10 per cent year and year.

In the manufacturing sector, including Eastern Caribbean Metals and Kendra’s,” growth is even stronger.

“And you would expect that. So, they’re reporting growth up to an exceeding 15% year on year.”

St. Vincent Brewery, which is celebrating its 40^th anniversary, “has positive growth. That’s strong, as well as the Eastern Caribbean Group of Companies, “Gonsalves said, adding that that having named the company, he did not want to give their growth numbers.

“I don’t want to put them in a position,” he said.

On the hardware side, driven by the post-Hurricane Beryl reconstruction and “a very ambitious infrastructure programme of the government, you’re seeing growth numbers 6%, 8%, 10% year on year”.

He said the same thing was being seen in shipping, “which indicates that more items, more goods, are being ordered and brought into Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Pharmaceuticals is up. Automotive sales are up. And in the hospitality sector, … and I’m talking about our local hoteliers because, you know, the Chamber of Commerce didn’t provide me data from Sandals and Mustique and those sorts of things.

“But when you’re talking about Maya sweets and hotel Alexandrina, Beachcombers and Paradise Beach and all the rest of it, is the same story that their year-on-year growth is stronger now than it was a year ago.”

He said there was a similar report from BoSVG, adding that the number show there was “a very strong uptake, finally, in digital transactions through the Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Fewer people are pulling out their chequebook at the cash register and writing a cheque, and that’s something that we were very keen to move the population away from older ways of paying and having transactions.”

However, the minister said there was not much growth in the telecoms sector, which is

saturated.

“Everybody already has a cell phone. Everybody already has a plan. Everybody is already using a lot of data…”  he said, adding that data use is increasing and telephone use decreasing.

“And so, there’s a bit of a trade-off there, as they try to monetise how much time we spend on the internet and how little time we spend actually talking on our phone now,” Gonsalves said.