PIOJ Director General defends methodology used to measure growth

Director General of  the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) Dr. Wayne Henry, is defending how growth in the construction Industry is measured.

This follows claims from Minister of  Industry and Commerce, Audley Shaw, that the measurement is flawed.

“What people have been questioning is the methodology of capturing and measuring wrong? And we have been going through quite a bit to communicate that we have a robust methodology and for years and several decades we have been capturing this and the methodolgy continues to be robust and recognised.”

He said most of  the raw material used in the industry are imported, which means the value added is not recorded in growth figures.

He also said that growth in construction is expected to pick up soon, especially after most of  the major works are completed.

Meanwhile, the PIOJ  is reporting that the rate of  growth has averaged 1.6 per cent for the first half  of  the calendar year. 

It is expected to record further improvement during the current fiscal year within the 2 to 3 per cent range. 

But, the PIOJ notes that this forecast is predicated on: growth in excess of  20 per cent for the Mining & Quarrying Industry and Growth in the Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing industry which is expected to recover following the contraction in the 2017/18 fiscal year resulting from adverse flood conditions.