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Balance of Payments Report Released

The Office of the Governor has published the “Balance of Payments” report for 2013, containing 25 pages of financial tables and seven pages of related graphs.  Among the key findings –

Investments have fallen or remained stagnant:

  • External investments in the islands were $13.3 billion in 2008 and less than$5.7 billion in 2013.
  • Short-term investments were about the same in 2008 and 2013.
  • Income from external investments remained about the same throughout the period.
  • The value of long-term investments decreased from $102.2 billion in 2011 to $88.8 billion in 2013.
  • Puerto Rico’s external investments dropped from $38.9 billion in 2008 to $24 billion in 2013.

Federal support has grown significantly:

  • Federal grants to government grew from $2.4 billion in 2004 to $3.8 billion in 2013.
  • Assistance to and for individuals increased from $10.1 billion in 2004 to $17 billion in 2013.
  • Agency spending is up from $959 million in 2004 to $1.7 billion in 2013.

Tourism has fallen, but may be beginning to show some recovery:

  • Income from tourism grew steadily from $3 billion in 2004 to $3.5 billion in 2008, but then fell back to 2005 levels, and has been uneven since.
  • 2013 saw an increase in income from tourism, but income is lower than 2006 levels.
  • The number of tourists was lower in 2013 than in 2004.
  • Travel spending by residents of Puerto Rico within Puerto Rico also grew until 2008, but then fell and has remained low, going from $1,213.3 million in 2008 to $781.9 million in 2013.
  • 5,410,100 travelers arrived in 2004 and 4,401,900 in 2013.

Motion picture rentals increased from $15.4 million in 2004 to $16.7 million in 2013.

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