PRESS RELEASE
QUARTERLY GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
Second Quarter 2006

October 9, 2006

The Gross Domestic Product for the third quarter of 2006, recently released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica showed that the Jamaican economy grew by 0.6 percent during the second quarter of 2006, when compared to the previous quarter. Both the Productive and Services sectors increased by 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.

When compared to the second quarter of 2005, the economy grew by 2.4 percent. The Productive Sector declined by 0.3 percent as a result of lower output levels in Manufacture and Construction and Installation. The Services Sector grew by 3.9 percent reflecting improved

Performances in all industries within the group. Strong performance in the tourism industry resulted in significant growth of 15.4 percent in the Miscellaneous Services sector.