Q24N (EFE) The Nicaraguan economy has recovered in the last two years, mainly due to an increase in the value of exports and a new record in remittances from emigrants, the Banco Central de Nicaragua (Central Bank of Nicaragua) reported on Friday.
The head bank, Ovidio Reyes, said in a written statement that Nicaragua ended 2022 with “its second year of economic growth, after the (covid-19) pandemic and that it is heading to a third year of continuity of that economic growth.”
Nicaragua projects a growth of between 3.5% and 4.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the second consecutive year of growth (10.3% in 2021) after three 3 years of closing with a balance in the red, with inflation between 10% and 11%, according to the Central Bank.
The official explained that “Nicaragua has very solid foundations and that an important strength is the export sector, which has been the spearhead of the recovery, of the funding of the economy in the last two years.”
He maintained that Nicaragua became a country with an open and exporting economy.
“Our GDP is around US$14 billion dollars. So, US$8 billion only in exports, it is an important structural change,” he stressed.
To theUS$8 billion in exports, the official added US$3 billion in remittances from family members living abroad, US$1.5 billion in foreign direct investment, and US$500 million in tourism, to total US$13 billion in income for the country against a GDP of US$14 bdillion dollars,” he stressed.
Nicaragua received US$2.88 billion dollars in remittances from its emigrants between January and November 2022, a new record, according to data from the Central Bank.
Those US$2.88 billion dollars received as family remittances last November represent 20.6% of Nicaragua’s GDP.
Therefore, according to the head of the Central Bank, Nicaragua is heading towards its third year of economic recovery and predicted that, in the medium term, the economy will grow a minimum of 4% per year.
In 2023, the Government foresees a growth of between 3% to 4% of its economy, with inflation of between 5% to 6%.
The Nicaraguan economy contracted by an average of 3% per year in the 2018-2020 period.
GDP decreased by 1.8% in 2020, as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and the damage caused by hurricanes Eta and Iota, in November of that year, according to the monetary authority.
In 2019 it fell 3.8% and 3.4% in 2018, due to the sociopolitical crisis that has affected the country for 57 months, according to the issuer.
