Page 7 - AHATA

A8
Saturday 21 November 2020
Aruban pitcher signs with Washington
Nationals
ORANJESTAD — Baseball The Washington Nation-
team Washington Nation- als are an American pro- National League East divi-
als will sign up with the
young Aruban pitcher Je- based in Washington, D.C. team played in RFK Stadi-
frem Leon. Under guidance The Nationals compete um while their permanent
of scout David Lee he will
follow his dream to be-
come a professional pitch-
er. On Aruba Leon played
for baseball team CBN at
Noord and he participated
in international competi-
tions where he represented
Aruba. Leon is not the first
but the second Aruban
who will be playing for the
Washington Nationals.
as a member club of the
fessional baseball team sion. From 2005 to 2007, the
in Major League Baseball stadium was being built.q
Results for the third quarter of
the year 2020:
Business sentiments
remain pessimistic
ORANJESTAD — The Central Bank of Aruba (CBA)
recently concluded its Business Perception Survey
(BPS) for the third quarter of 2020. The BPS assesses
the economic perceptions and sentiments of local
businesses as well as the continued impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on economic conditions and
business activities.
After a small improvement in the second quarter,
the Business Perception Index (BPI), comprising
the current and short-term economic conditions,
declined by 0.7 index point to 93.3 during the third
quarter of 2020. The overall BPI indicates a slight
decrease in business sentiments compared to last
quarter (See Chart 1) . The change in sentiments
resulted from a reduction in both current and short-
term future economic conditions.
The current economic condition index noted a
contraction of 0.2 index point to 92.3, down from 92.5
in the second quarter of 2020. The short-term future
economic condition index fell by 1.5 index points, i.e.,
from 96.4 in the second quarter of 2020 to 94.9 in the
third quarter of 2020 (See Table 1).The percentage of
respondents expecting negative economic growth
in the next 12 months decreased by 16.6 percentage
points to 70.2 percent.
In terms of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,
the expanded Business Perception Survey also
assessed the expected impact on business sales,
the need for applying for emergency business funds,
and the expected economic impact.
Roughly 42 percent of business respondents (41.5
percent) pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic
continued to have a significant impact on their
business sales; 8.0 percentage points less when
compared to 49.5 percent in the second quarter.
Approximately 65 percent of business respondents
(64.9 percent) expect the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on the Aruban economy to last more than
12 months. As for the need for applying for emergency
business funds provided by the Government of
Aruba, 33.0 percent of the respondents applied for
this funding during the third quarter, compared to
41.8 percent that applied during the second quarter.
The complete report of the Business Perception
Survey is available on the website of the CBA (https://
www.cbaruba.org/).q