The Dominican Republic must maintain high growth but at the same time have policies to boost productive sectors and improve education, so that jobs and incomes increase.
The Dominican Republic must balance economic growth so that it does not depend so much on sectors with low labor productivity, but rather relies on sectors with high productivity that allow for better salaries.
This was explained by the executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachswho stressed that although the country has been growing at rates above the regional average, its challenge now is not only to generate more jobs, but to create them in sectors with greater productivity.
“Unfortunately, there is more job creation in the lower productivity sectors. And growth must be maintained because this in turn increases employment.
But the great challenge is how to change and ensure that this greater growth goes to the sectors with the highest productivity,” he said yesterday during the presentation of the Economic Study 2024, in which ECLAC projects that the Dominican Republic would grow 5.2% this year, while Latin America and the Caribbean would have an average rate of 1.8%.
ECLAC indicated that in the country, as in the region, most new jobs are concentrated in sectors with lower productivity growth, such as construction, trade, transport/tourism and services, leaving aside manufacturing and agriculture. And this explains the poor performance of labor productivity in the region, which in 2024 has shown levels lower than those observed in 1980.
Salazar-Xirinachs He urged the country to implement a productive development policy, together with labour policies accompanied by education policies, because by improving the training of people (technical and educational) it is possible to focus on development sectors with greater productivity and that attract a greater demand for employment.
He explained that ECLAC has been highlighting the importance of education, especially public education, as a central element in tackling inequality and generating social mobility. Technical and university education are key to helping reduce informality and move towards more productive work, as well as increasing income.
The study is titled “Low growth trap, climate change and employment dynamics”, explains that as long as investments in adaptation and mitigation are not made, the intensification of shocks associated with climate change could cause a loss close to 43 million jobs (i.e. 10% of the workforce) by 2050, of which about 15 million would be lost between the agricultural and tourism sectors. In addition, GDP would fall by 12.3% by 2050.
ECLAC predicts that the Dominican Republic will grow 5.2% by the end of this year, the highest growth rate among the 20 Latin American countries analyzed. And by 2025 it will grow 4.5%.
ECLAC projects that Latin America and the Caribbean will continue on a low growth path this year, at an average rate of 1.8%. By subregion, South America is expected to grow by 1.5%; Central America and Mexico by 2.2%; and the Caribbean (excluding Guyana) by 2.6%.
By 2025, growth of 2.3% is expected for the entire region, a rebound that would be explained, in particular, by the performance of South America (which will reach 2.4%).
