The Dominica Parliament has extended the waiver of Value Added Tax and import duties on a range of essential goods through July 2026, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced. Skerrit linked the relief measures directly to the global price shocks rippling out from the Middle East conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, telling legislators that small import-dependent states face higher prices for food, fuel and essential goods regardless of whether they have any role in the underlying conflict.
The IMF’s March 2026 Article IV report on Dominica reported real GDP growth of 4.5 percent in 2025, up from 3.5 percent in 2024, driven largely by tourism and targeted development investments. Inflation eased to 2.3 percent for the year. The Fund projects real GDP growth averaging approximately 3 percent in 2026 and 2027, slowing toward 2 percent as major construction projects wind down. Dominica is now in a primary surplus position of 0.7 percent of GDP, equivalent to EC$14.7 million, after years of post-crisis primary deficits averaging 4.3 percent of GDP.
Beneficiaries of the Petite Savanne Resettlement Programme at Bellevue continue to be processed, with updates posted by the government this week. The Petite Savanne village was destroyed by Tropical Storm Erika in 2015; the resettlement at Bellevue has been one of the country’s most extended post-disaster recovery efforts, now in its eleventh year.
Jazz ’n Arts in Paradise is set to take place Saturday, May 2, marking another date on Dominica’s growing cultural-tourism calendar. Tourism numbers continued to expand in 2025, with figures confirming record growth in visitor arrivals.
The Caribbean Community has scheduled meetings on Antigua’s invitation, including representations from Dominica, on regional integration matters. The Skerrit administration has continued to defend the country’s Citizenship by Investment programme as foundational to public finances; the Prime Minister has stated that no tax revenue, loan or grant has contributed as much to Dominica’s public finances over the past 15 years as CBI inflows. The programme operates against intensifying scrutiny from both Washington and Brussels.
What it means: Dominica’s economic story is unusual in the region: an IMF-confirmed primary surplus, projected growth above the regional average, and a sustained policy of using CBI revenue to absorb global price shocks for residents. Whether that mix survives EU and US pressure on CBI is the open question.