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Kilili: 2017 GDP data to be announced
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) opens the three-day Close Up Youth Summit on Saipan Tuesday at the Kanoa Resort. (Contributed Photo)
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) will get a first look at the 2017 gross domestic product data on Thursday morning, shortly before the information is made public.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis director Brian C. Moyer will brief Sablan at 11:30am prior to meeting with Gov. Ralph Torres in the afternoon to release the economic growth numbers for last year.
Congress provides $750,000 to pay for production of the annual economic data. The funding covers American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Marianas.
GDP is the sum of goods and services produced in a territory, state, or nation over a given period of time and is a primary means of gauging economic health.
“Gross domestic product is so valuable to have in any policy decision-making,” Sablan said. “To pass the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act, one of my key talking points was the conclusion by the Government Accountability Office that ending the CW program would cut GDP by 26 to 62 percent.
“That was language that everyone understands.” (PR)
