Samoa’s export earnings bounced back by 12.0 per cent, the Central Bank (C.B.S.) reports.
In its latest Selected Economic Indicators report the Bank says this spike is due to higher proceeds from fresh fish, nonu juices, beer, crude coconut oil and Samoan cocoa to name a few.
“In addition, import payments rose by $4.1 million to $61.8 million, which saw the merchandise trade deficit widen slightly by 6.6 per cent, or $3.4 million, to $55.8 million,” the report reads.
“Private remittances increased by 2.1 per cent, $0.7 million, to $33.3 million while on visitor arrivals fell 12.5 per cent to 10,061, leading to a similar decline in visitor earnings to $27.2 million.
“Overall, gross official foreign reserves slipped slightly by 0.8 per cent to $314.2 million, representing a monthly overall deficit of $2.6 million in the balance of payments.”
<!-- samoaobs_headline -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="5353984075"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}
“This was equivalent to 4.8 months of import cover.”
Turning to local trade the Bank reports that at the Fugalei and other local produce markets around Apia, the overall volume of supplies rose slightly by 0.8 per cent reflecting higher supplies of banana, tomatoes and pumpkin.
“However due to higher demand, the overall price index increased by 8.7 per cent,” it says.
Furthermore the C.B.S. reports that the weighted average official interest rate edged up to 0.17 per cent from 0.15 per cent for the past three consecutive months.
“In terms of market interest rates, the weighted average lending rate fell 0.2 basis points to 9.44 per cent whereas the average deposit rate contracted to 2.97 per cent,” the Bank says.
“As a consequence, the commercial banks’ interest rate spread narrowed to 6.47 per cent from 6.80 per cent in the month under review.”
“Total commercial banks’ lending to the private sector and public institutions combined expanded further by 6.6 per cent to $849.7 million in light of reduced lending rates while the government’s net position with the financial system narrowed by 7.0 per cent to $149.8 million, reflecting a cash deficit of $11.2 million.
“Consequently, ‘net domestic assets’ leapt by $62.9 million but was partially offset by a $33.2 million decline in ‘net foreign assets’, resulting in a $29.7 million increase in total money supply.”
According to the Bank, the overall nominal value of the Samoa tala weakened by 0.02 per cent as the tala depreciated against both the New Zealand dollar and the Australian dollar but appreciated against Euro and the US dollar.
“The latest Consumer Price Index (C.P.I.) data released by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics revealed a 1.8 per cent increase from the preceding month and was 2.8 per cent higher than October last year,” the report reads.
“As a result, the annual average headline inflation rate edged up to -1.1 per cent from -1.2 per cent in the previous month but was lower than -0.5 per cent in October 2013.”
Turning now to the world economy, the C.B.S. says the U.S. economy continues to record positive growth, despite being below trend.
“On the other hand the New Zealand economy continues to improve following reduced unemployment and strong construction activity while the Australian economy is showing modest growth,” it reports.
<script async src="http://www.samoaobserver.ws///pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- 336x280 (bottom-article) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-2469982834957525"
data-ad-slot="1033882026"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>