Economic impact of de-risking on the Caribbean: Case studies of Antigua and Barbuda, Belize and Saint Kitts and Nevis

This study examines the impact of de-risking on the study countries—bank and non-bank sectors. The study approach is based on survey instruments, consultations and analysis of secondary data. The impacts that have been observed, to date, have generally been discounted in most analysis as “anecdotal” and not valid for “reliable inference”1. However, in small economies such as those in this study what is anecdotal may be indeed reasonable for inference. The typically small number of banks as well as their dominance in the financial sectors of these small states suggests that reduced banking services will have knock on effects on other activities and sectors. In this regard, unlike most studies that cast a broad geographical net in attempting to assess the impact of the withdrawal of CBS, this study focuses on three countries which facilitates the “drilling down” and “zooming in” on the experience with de-risking.