Balearic economy growing

Joan Collins THE Balearic economy is growing this year at a rate not seen since 2001, as a consequence of the reactivation of the services sector and the improvement of tourism. During the first six months, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 2.8 percent and the Balearic Government has announced that at the end of the year it will be 3 percent, higher than the 2.5 percent predicted by them at the beginning of the year. The Balearic Minister for Economy, Tax and Innovation Luis Ramis de Ayreflor explained yesterday, during the presentation of the trend report for the first six months of 2006, that “the Balearic economy is going reasonably well and has a sustainable growth which will create employment and put us on the road to equalling the GDP of Spain”, which in the first six months of the year had a GDP of 3.6 percent. Of the total of the 2.8 percent growth in the GDP, 2.28 percent comes from the service sector, 0.33 percent from the construction sector, 0.14 percent from industry and energy, and 0.05 percent from agriculture and fisheries. Ramis de Ayreflor announced that the construction sector is going to slow down in its productivity soon and thus have a more moderate growth. By islands, Majorca is the one which has experienced the greatest development, with a 3 percent growth, while Ibiza and Formentera grew by 2 percent and Minorca by 1.5 percent. The Minister considered the review of the growth of the GDP normal, and said that it would continue to grow in the second six months, “because we have not yet counted the best quarter of the year, which is when the most economic activity occurs. This makes us think that it will grow to 3 percent by the end of the year and therefore we are in agreement with the forecast of the CAEB (Confederation of Business Associations). All the economic sectors on the islands are improving in comparison to the activity recorded in the first six months of 2005, which confirms the consolidation of the economic recovery.