In the most recent years, construction has been sluggish, due mainly to high interest rates following the global financial crisis that engulfed most economies from 1997. The dominant sub-sector in the tertiary sector is general government. The activity of this sub-sector is followed by wholesale and retail, transport and communication, hotels and restaurants and community, social and personal services, in that order.
The ratio of general government to GDP, of some 22% over the last five years, is quite substantial. This has given vent to the fears in certain quarters that this expansion might not be in the long-run interest of the economy, particularly if it crowds out private sector role.