Dr wesley hughes, director general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), has pointed to some positives in light of the ongoing global economic recession and the fact that the economy is expected to continue its decline.

Even as some sectors contracted, there was growth in others, said Hughes during a media briefing held at the institute's offices in New Kingston yesterday. Chief of these was the agriculture industry, which reported the highest increase.

"We saw output growing by 10 per cent in the quarter due largely to the industry's recovery from the lingering effects of Hurricane Dean, which impacted the industry in the same quarter in 2008," he said.

This, Hughes said, was because of the lowering of input prices such as fertilisers, seeds and animal feeds.

Cheap fertiliser

Speaking to The Gleaner last night, Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton also cited the Government's move to import cheap fertiliser as the main reason for the sector's growth.

Tufton said that in spite of the controversy surrounding the importation of the fertiliser earlier this year, it has reduced the cost of production for many farmers.

Tufton said the Government would continue its drive to enhance productivity in an effort to sustain the growth of the sector.

However, Hughes stressed that the impact of the global fiscal crisis on the local economy was now more pronounced and that it was expected to deepen in the next quarter.

Statistics

He said that for the quarter January to March, gross domestic product - the total value of goods and services generated by the country - declined by 2.8 per cent in comparison with the same period last year. The services industry declined by 1.6 per cent, with areas such as transport, storage and communication and electricity and water supplies contributing to the decline. Finance and insurance services is the only subcategory in this sector that did not decline.

The goods-producing industry contracted by 5.9 per cent. Under this sector, the largest decline was in mining and quarrying which registered a 28.2 per cent fall. Lower production was recorded for both alumina and crude bauxite and Hughes said the decline in alumina was a result of the scaling down of production in preparation for the temporary closure of local bauxite plants. Another area under this sector that recorded a decrease is manufacturing and construction, which fell by 4.3 per cent and 7.0 per cent, respectively.

Hughes said that even with so many declines, there was an upside as Jamaica has a resilient economy.

"There is the possibility that there is an earlier-than-anticipated easing of the recession."