Addressing Key Challenges to Sustainable Growth and Development in the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 4

Caribbean Outlook 3: Economic recovery and repositioning in the era of COVID-19. Policy Brief

The economies of the subregion were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those dependent on tourism. As a result, the Caribbean has seen a reversal of the hard-won gains achieved in growing their economies and reducing unemployment and inequality. The inflation stemming from pandemic supply chain disruption, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has made the sustained uptick in economic performance beyond pre-pandemic levels unlikely, notwithstanding strong growth estimates for 2021 and 2022. The last two years have taught the region that continued ‘business as usual’ is…

Economic Survey of the Caribbean 2021

This survey examines the economic performance of economies of the Caribbean in 2020 and the first few months of 2021 and comprises five chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of global, regional and subregional economic performance in the Caribbean. The second provides an analysis of the subregion’s fiscal performance and debt burden. The third looks at monetary policy and their impacts. The fourth is focused on the external sector, while the fifth concludes.…

The Hummingbird Vol. 9 No. 1

Essential elements of the ECLAC Caribbean Resilience Fund : a segregated portfolio trust fund. Policy Brief

Declining economic growth and competitiveness, the impact of the 2007–2009 global financial crisis, and the challenge of climate change and extreme weather events have hindered the sustainable development of Caribbean economies, the generation of sustained welfare gains and the achievement of key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the subregion’s vulnerability to the vagaries of global aggregate demand and commodity prices, which have largely driven the subregion’s debt upwards and dampened economic growth before its onset, compromising its ec…

The Hummingbird Vol. 8 No. 9

Strategies for Post COVID-19 Recovery in the Caribbean

Preliminary overview of the economies of the Caribbean 2019–2020

This overview examines the economic performance of economies of the Caribbean in 2019 and comprises four chapters. The first chapter provides a comparative analysis across Caribbean economies of the main macroeconomic variables, namely GDP growth, monetary indicators, as well as fiscal and external accounts. The second chapter looks at areas of focus in the Caribbean. The third chapter concludes, while the annex includes individual country briefs that give an overview of the economic situation for the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and a subregional assessment of the coun…

A preliminary review of policy responses to enhance SME access to trade financing in the Caribbean

The economies of the Caribbean face several challenges, such as a lack of economies of scale in production of goods and services exacerbated by small populations, narrow internal markets and scarce capital, which limit the economic gains from self-sufficiency. For this reason, more emphasis should be placed on building export capacity and facilitating trade. If we examine the characteristics of firms in the subregion, the majority can be categorized as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, only about 13 per cent of these SMEs export. This suggests that on average the subregion i…

Policy Brief: Policy actions to facilitate upgrading of the agricultural sector in Trinidad and Tobago

For many countries, the acceleration of integration into the global economy and multilateral trading system provides an opportunity to access a wider range of goods and services as well as export markets, increasing their economic incomes, and improving the welfare of the citizenry. In particular, preferential trade agreements tend to increase export market access opportunities for the agro-industrial products of developing countries. While increased market access offers many opportunities for enhancing the economic growth of exporting countries, developing countries are often unable to seize…

The Hummingbird Vol.6 No.12

The Hummingbird Vol.6 No.11

Strategies for increasing economic resilience in the Caribbean

Investing in the Caribbean Future

The Hummingbird Vol.4 No.12

The Hummingbird Vol.4 No.9

Economic diversification

The Hummingbird Vol.4 No.6

Caribbean economies