CDB: Caribbean Faces Uncertain Times

CDB: Caribbean Faces Uncertain Times
(Stabroek News)

This year promises to be another hard slog for many Caribbean economies. The latest assessment of uncertain times ahead has come from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). It said any sustained recovery hinges on the performance of industrialised nations, where the outlook remains uncertain.

“Taken together with the fact that the business cycles of regional economies tend to be highly correlated with those of advanced economies … these factors imply modest recoveries for most economies in the region,” the CDB said. “However, as with the global outlook, there is a high degree of uncertainty surrounding these expectations.”

Some of the countries in the Caribbean are among the most highly indebted in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This indebtedness has hampered their ability to extricate themselves from the economic crisis.

Participants at an IMF-backed conference in Barbados in late January found that economic growth in the region has lagged other parts of the hemisphere largely because of weak productivity growth.

They concluded that diversification of economic partners and export markets, which some countries are already pursuing, should become a deliberate strategy. Agriculture is expected to perform better after weather-related setbacks

Citing tourism, the CDB said the nascent recovery in arrivals by air could be bolstered by tapping into the robust growth in emerging economies. For example, it noted that Barbados – a regional hub for the southern and eastern Caribbean – has facilitated the introduction of direct flights from Brazil.

CBD