CNMI-wide hardship felt

Economic hardship was felt in almost all economic sectors of the CNMI—banking, remittance, auto sales, visitor arrivals, and other businesses—during the first three months of this year, as reflected in the latest statistics from the government.

The 2006 first quarter economic indicators report by the Commerce Department showed that total deposits in CNMI banks dropped by 14 percent compared with the same period last year.

From $582.7 million total deposits in the first quarter of 2005, the figure went down to $503.8 million this year.

Total loans, meantime, decreased 5 percent from $204.2 million last year to $187.2 million this year.

Remittances, which registered a record high of $112.6 million in 2005, is down by 8 percent during the first quarter this year.

Auto sales during the first three months of the year showed an 18-percent drop compared with the same period last year. Local car dealers sold 503 units during the period last year. This year, it went down to 411 cars.

Visitor arrivals showed a 19-percent decline during the first three months of the year, from 122,028 last year to 112,496 this year.

Japan arrivals rate showed the biggest drop of 31 percent from 98,680 in 2005 to 73,488 this year.

Hotel daily rate up

The Commerce statistics showed that the average daily hotel rate increased from $84 in early 2005 to $91 early this year, reflecting an 8-percent hike.

Hotel occupancy rate, however, is 19-percent down.

With 74 percent occupancy rate during the first quarter of 2005, the rate went down to 60 percent this year.

Consumer price hike

Commerce said that during the first quarter this year, prices of apparel items went up by 16.3 percent, followed by medical care at 6.5 percent, recreation at 4.3 percent, housing and utilities at 3.4 percent, and education and communications at 2.9 percent.

Prices of alcoholic beverages went up a little by .4 percent.

Food items down

Commerce reported a 5.5-percent decline in prices of food during the first three months, and 7.7 percent decrease in prices of other goods and services.

Earlier, acting Commerce Secretary James Santos said that a deflationary trend was noticeable in the restaurant business, with many food outlets offering very low prices of meals. He said this is done by businesses to keep their market and stay afloat during an economic crunch.

In related news, Commerce reported a slight decline in telephone line subscribers during the period.

From 31,050 during the first quarter of 2005, the number this year totaled 30,050.

Commerce said phone lines totaled 19,633 early this year, which is down from last year’s 19,324.

Residential phone lines totaled 10,966 during the period this year, a 6-percent drop from 11,726 last year.

Construction, imports

In terms of building permits, which indicate construction activities in the Commonwealth, there were more permits issued during the first quarter this year, with 105 permits, than the same period last year, with 88.

In terms of total value, this year’s activities are valued at $4.10 million, a decline from last year’s $4.64 million.

Imports, meantime, are 11 percent down this year compared with the same period last year.

From 151,000 tons of imported products in the first quarter of 2005, the figure is down to 134,000 tons this year.

Imported items include petroleum, oil, lubricants, cement, garment, and others.