During March 2021, the Monthly Index of Economic Activity reported a year-on-year variation of 6.5%, a rise that is largely explained by the dynamism of mining and quarrying, manufacturing industry and construction.
In primary activities, growth was registered in mining and quarrying, livestock, agriculture, fishing and aquaculture, and a decrease in forestry and timber extraction, informed the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN).
After in January 2021 the Monthly Index of Economic Activity in the country registered an year on year increase of 0.7%, in February a lower growth was registered, which amounted to 0.2%.
The activities with the highest growth were: mining and quarrying, 24.5%, commerce, 6.2%, fishing and aquaculture, 5.6%, construction, 2.4%, and manufacturing industry, 2.3%, among others, informed the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN).
The World Bank predicts that by the end of this year Panama and the Dominican Republic will be the economies of the region that will grow the most, and the countries that will report the lowest increases in their production will be Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
After the region's economies were considerably affected in 2020 by the sanitary crisis generated by the Covid-19 outbreak, the outlook of international organizations for 2021 is encouraging.
During 2020 in all countries of the region, construction activity decreased considerably and Central American cement imports stagnated, this adverse scenario is explained by the economic crisis generated by the pandemic.
The construction industry statistics system, which is part of the interactive platform "Construction in Central America" of CentralAmericaData's Business Intelligence area, compiles the most important industry data for each of the countries in the region.
Twelve months after Central America began a health and economic crisis triggered by the covid-19 outbreak, Guatemala was the fastest recovering economy and Panamanian economic activity is the slowest to return to pre-pandemic levels.
In March 2020, the first cases of covid-19 began to be detected in the countries of the region. The highly contagious disease, which at that time had already claimed the lives of thousands of people around the world, forced Central American governments to establish mobility restrictions.
The World Bank has improved economic growth projections for all Central American economies for 2021, with Honduras, El Salvador and Panama having the most promising forecasts.
In June 2020, when the health and economic effects of the pandemic that caused the covid-19 outbreak were beginning to be reported, the World Bank predicted that in 2021 Nicaragua's Gross Domestic Product would decrease by -1.6%, but in a January 2021 publication it projected that the drop would be -0.9%.
Because of the fall in economic activity and the restrictions imposed to contain the spread of covid-19, businessmen in Costa Rica and Panama predict that the process of economic recovery will not be completed in the near future.
In this crisis scenario generated by the covid-19 outbreak, the Costa Rican economy does not show clear signs of recovery, since during November 2020 the Monthly Index of Economic Activity reported a year-on-year fall of 6.2%, a decline similar to that reported in October, when it was 6.3%.
As of June, Central American economies began to show signs of incipient recovery and as of August, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica registered the smallest drops in their levels of economic activity.
Since March of this year, the region has faced a severe economic crisis generated by the outbreak of covid-19. The strict quarantines decreed, the closure of borders and commercial establishments, ended up damaging the dynamism of productive activities.
During July the IMAE registered -4% year-on-year variation, a drop that is less than those reported in April, May and June, months in which due to the crisis generated by the covid-19, production reported contractions of 10%, 8% and 6%, in that order.
In the seventh month of the year, agricultural activity grew by 9.7% (2.1% in the accumulated January-July), due to increased work and production in the cultivation of coffee, corn, beans, rice, sorghum, and peanuts, among other agricultural products, reported the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN).
Because of the tension between the productive sector and the government, coupled with the lack of official statistics from the Central Bank, some companies in Nicaragua have chosen to stop providing information to the authorities.
In an attempt to hide the complicated economic situation, the country is going through, local authorities have not published information on the Monthly Economic Activity Index since February 2019, when the year-on-year drop was 7.5%. This prevents businessmen from making decisions based on the real situation of the economy.
In Nicaragua, the authorities have not published information on the Monthly Index of Economic Activity since February 2019, when the year-on-year fall was 7.5%, a situation that prevents businessmen from making decisions based on the real situation of the economy.
After the economies of the region grew by 2.6% in 2018 as a whole, the IMF estimates that 2019 would close with a rise of 2.7% and could reach 3.4% by 2020.
The document "World Economic Outlook", prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), states that for Panama the projected growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2019 was reduced from 5% to 4.3%.
At a time of economic slowdown, companies must immediately review business models and identify opportunities arising from the creation of new market niches.
In Central America, during the first half of the year, at least four of the six economies reported declines in productive activity. The most dramatic case is that of Nicaragua, which in February recorded a 7% year-on-year drop in the Monthly Index of Economic Activity (MIEA), a situation reported since the political crisis began in April 2018.
After 14 months of socio-political crisis in Nicaragua, companies in the country face a reduction in consumption and investment, as well as the impact on national economic activity of rising unemployment.
According to studies conducted by the Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada (COSEP) and the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUNIDES), the local economy faces a contraction in economic activity that continues to deepen, prevailing uncertainty and distrust in consumers and investors.
In the second month of 2019, the IMAE in Nicaragua registered a 7% decrease with respect to February 2018, mainly because of the performance of the Hotels and Restaurants, and Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors.
The original IMAE series showed a 7.5% decrease compared to February 2018, a 6.6% decrease in the January-February period and a 5.3% annual average, reported the Central Bank of Nicaragua in its report.