Finance Minister Eugene Cox says Bermuda has so far escaped a hit by the world economic slow down and was in fact going through a period of moderate growth.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette on Friday, Mr. Cox stressed the economy was not slipping after poor retail sales figures were reported for three months running, stating that besides tourist spending, other sectors of the economy such as finance, insurance and e-commerce were doing very well.

"We seem to be doing pretty good," said Mr. Cox. "When you asked about the economic conditions here in Bermuda we seem to be doing well, and are in as good a curve as we anticipated."

He said that growth, which stood at 2.9 percent in 2000, was projected by the Government at 2.7 percent during the last budget as the growth for 2001. He said: "We are still on target from the figures we have. But we don't have all the figures."

Mr. Cox's comments follow figures released two weeks ago by the Government which show that the Retail Sales Index, a key economic indicator, was down by 6.1 percent in June.

The news was seen by the retail sector as part of tightening of consumer belts as a global slowdown was expected to hit Bermuda.

Speaking on the current economic climate, Finance Minister Eugene Cox said that while fewer may choose to holiday in Bermuda as a part of this slow-down which may impact retailers focused on tourism, the economy as a whole was growing in line with Government projections.

He said: "We have to bear in mind that we are only half way through the year, which starts in April, so we only have figures from the beginning of the year. But indications appear to be that we are still on course. We are not growing as much as we did the year before, but we are still growing, which we projected."

And he said that once the hotels opened up again to full capacity, then tourism spending would also go up, helping the retailers with their spending. and he said the Government was working towards improving tourism on the Island.

He added: "But we are certainly making every effort and we recognise that tourism is one of the major employers on the Island."

He added: "I think the challenge is that we depend on the US economy, and we are glad to see all the actions which are being taken there to reinvigorate it. But you ask how is the down turn going to affect us?

"Well we are going to go from 2.9 percent to 2.7 percent growth. The world downturn has impacted on us in one star, and we have seen this in the first and second quarter. Our forecast was we will suffer a reduction in growth. But I would like to stress at this time that this is not a downturn in the economy. We have mapped out what would happen and it is still on course."

He added: "On balance we are going through a period of moderate economic growth. We are only half way through the year, but we are in line with our projections. The economy is still growing."