The Cayman Islands sustained its modest recovery in the first six months of 2011 amidst prevailing sovereign debt concerns and marked downturns in key external markets.
Gross domestic product grew by an estimated 1.3 per cent as compared to the 4.1 per cent contraction recorded in 2010. The improved performance is attributed to expansion of production primarily in hotel and restaurants, financing and insurance services, and wholesale and retail trade.
In particular, the hotel and restaurants sector benefited from a revitalised stay-over market as air arrivals increased by 8.0 per cent. Cruise arrivals in contrast, declined by 3.4 per cent; subduing an upbeat performance in the first quarter of the year.
In the financial services industry, new company registrations—following 18.4 per cent increase a year earlier—rose by a further 11.0 per cent to 4,844.
Total domestic credit of commercial banks to the private sector contracted by 2.3 per cent while public sector indebtedness to the local banking sector increased by 55.4 per cent.
Although, the weighted average lending rate fell by 12 basis points to 6.43 per cent compared to a year ago, the prime lending rate remained stable at 3.25 per cent.
In real estate, the sale of prime Seven Mile Beach properties pushed the total value of property transfers to $408.5 million as the number of property transfers declined by 3.9 per cent.
Merchandise imports for the first time since 2005 increased in the first half of the year, rising by 4.6 per cent to $360.9 million mainly on account of higher oil prices.
On the prices front, domestic inflationary pressures stayed relatively benign compared to the same period one year ago. Average inflation increased by 0.5 per cent led by rising price indices for transport (11.3 per cent), food and non-alcoholic beverages (2.2 per cent), and miscellaneous goods and services (2.6 per cent) as housing and utilities declined by 3.7 per cent.
Statistics for Business
| Jan – Jun ‘10 | Jan – Jun ’11 | |
| PRICES And National Income | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Average CPI inflation rate (%) | 4.23 | 5.46 |
| Electricity price (first 1500 kwh) (CI$) | 400.08 | 485.01 |
| MONETARY AND BANKING | ||
| Net credit to businesses (CI$ millions) | ||
| Construction | 186.5 | 332.9 |
| Hotel, Restaurant and Bar | 130.0 | 111.4 |
| Real Estate, Renting & Other | ||
| Utilities (Electricity, Gas & Water) | 51.5 | 23.2 |
| Trade & Commerce | 478.2 | 320.8 |
| Other | 108.6 | 155.0 |
| Net credit to households (CI$ millions) | ||
| Domestic property | 1,435.8 | 1,459.8 |
| Motor vehicles | 59.4 | 45.5 |
| Education & technology | 6.4 | 5.4 |
| Miscellaneous | 196.6 | 138.8 |
| Prime lending rate (%) | 3.25 | 3.25 |
| TRADE | ||
| Merchandise imports (CI$ million) | 344.9 | 360.9 |
| TOURISM | ||
| Cruise ship passengers | 866,340 | 836,595 |
| Cruise ship calls (Number) | 312 | 323 |
| Stay-over tourists (‘000) | ||
| Stay over arrivals by Country of Origin (‘000) | ||
| United States | 130.9 | 140.2 |
| Europe | 10.7 | 11.2 |
| Canada | 11.4 | 15.1 |
| Others | 9.1 | 8.6 |
| Hotel occupancy rate (%) | 68.2 | 64.3 |
| Apt/Condo occupancy rate (%) | 44.1 | 47.3 |
| Hotel length of stay (Days) | 6.8 | 7.4 |
| PORT AUTHORITY SERVICES | ||
| Port calls | 211 | 235 |
| Imported cargo (‘000 tons) | 114,942 | 108,502 |
| Containerized cargo (tons) | 91,940 | 91,791 |
| Break Bulk cargo (tons) | 3,814 | 1,314 |
| Diesel imports (imperial gallons) | 15,692,053 | 16,601,972 |
| Gas imports (imperial gallons) | 4,313,191 | 5,992,037 |
| AV Jet (imperial gallons) | 2,149,174 | 2,483,710 |
| Propane imports (imperial gallons) | 395,239 | 714,553 |
| FINANCIAL SERVICES | ||
| Banks and Trust licences | 265 | 250 |
| Trust companies | 128 | 124 |
| Mutual funds | 9,486 | 9,409 |
| Insurance licences | 789 | 754 |
| New companies registered | 4,362 | 4,844 |
| Stock exchange listing | 1,351 | 1,106 |
| PLANNING INDICATORS | ||
| Number of project approvals | ||
| Houses | 137 | 137 |
| Apartments/condos/Hotels | 33 | 21 |
| Commercial/Industrial | 24 | 17 |
| Government | 2 | 8 |
| Others | 240 | 204 |
| Value of project approvals (CI$ million) | ||
| Houses | 46.8 | 62.5 |
| Apartments/condos/Hotels | 23.4 | 10.7 |
| Commercial/Industrial | 72.5 | 6.7 |
| Government | 0.1 | 5.8 |
| Others | 30.5 | 10.0 |
| Work permits in effect | 21,529 | 19,920 |
Source: www.eso.ky, Economics and Statistics Office (ESO)
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