Former Head of the IMF Mission to St. Kitts and Nevis, Judith Gold predicted two years ago that the St. Kitts and Nevis economy will decline after the completion of several left behind by the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party when it left office in med-February 2015.
Under the stewardship of then Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas the St Kitts and Nevis economy grew seven percent in 2013 and seven percent in 2014.
Ms Gold said late 2015 that she expects economic activity in St Kitts and Nevis to decline after the projects are completed and the IMF was not aware of any new investment by the Harris-led PLP/PAM/CCM administration.
“There have been a lot of investments (during the Labour Administration) to bring the economy to where it is now. It cannot continue to expand at this pace because it is expanding very quickly but the base is now wider, so it would need more investment to have it continue expanding at this pace. Because of the base effect we expect some slowdown in growth,” Ms. Gold said in late 2015.
“So we see a slow down coming from six to five in 2015 to about three and a half percent in 2016, unless there is some new investment come in that we are not aware of yet,” Ms. Gold told WINNFM’s Andre Huie.
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) statistics show actual GDP in 2015 was 4.88 and an estimated 2.84 in 2016.
In January 2017, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) reduced the Growth Domestic Product (GDP) from 3.02 percent to 2.84.
ince the Labour Party Government left office on February 15th 2015 with projections for 3.82 in 2017 and 3.90 in 2018.
Since leaving office in mid-February 2015, construction work has been completed on the Koi Sales Office at the airport round a bout, the Victoria Road Day Care and Pre School, the headquarters of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), the Mental Health Day Care Centre at Lime Kiln, Silver Reef at Frigate Bay, Kittitian Hill at Belmont, the Imperial Bay Golf & Beach Residences at Half Moon, the Tunnel at Timothy Hill and the road from Frigate Bay to the South East Peninsula and from Frigate Bay to the round a bout at the Kim Collins Round-a-bout.
Other projects still under construction include the St. Kitts Castle in Frigate Bay, Koi Residences in Half Moon Bay, Rendezvous Residences, Golden Rock Commercial Park, Park Hyatt St. Kitts; T-Loft at Pirate’s Nest in Frigate Bay, Helden’s between Sandy Point and Newton Ground and Christophe Harbour Marina.
Construction of the Hilton/Embassy Suites project has ceased.