Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad announced that the Coalition Government is considering raising the 2024 growth forecast to 3.5 percent or more. He highlighted that key economic indicators are showing strong positive trends.
During a speech in Parliament, Prasad noted that private sector lending, adjusted VAT collections, a 20 percent increase in government expenditure over the past seven months, rising import levels, higher electricity usage, increased vehicle sales, and growing PAYE collections and remittances have all shown improvement.
He remarked on the tourism sector’s performance, stating it has exceeded previous expectations and outperformed last year’s record levels. Initially, a 3 percent growth in visitor arrivals was anticipated, but the data for the first eight months shows nearly a 7 percent increase. Prasad expects visitor arrivals to approach 1 million in 2024, setting another record for tourism.
The minister also mentioned a recovery across major sectors and a growth in investments, which are predicted to continue improving. He attributed this partly to the low-interest rate environment that is fostering investment and emphasized the government’s efforts to enhance service delivery and business facilitation.
However, he did express concerns about the resource sectors, stating they are underperforming and not reaching their full potential.