The Hummingbird Vol.5 No.3

Caribbean development report: A perusal of public debt in the Caribbean and its impact on economic growth

This paper examines the genesis and evolution of debt and debt overhang in the Caribbean with individual case studies, to extract lessons and make broad recommendations with regard to appropriate mechanisms and policy measures that can be implemented to reduce the debt burden of the subregion. The econometric model utilized in the paper has shown that a one percent increase on debt to GDP ratio causes a 0.015decline in real GDP growth for the countries in the Caribbean panel, suggesting that debt has a pernicious effect on growth on Caribbean economies. What is even more worrisome was that Car…

ECLAC Advocates for Caribbean's Debt Swap Proposal and Establishes Task Force for Its Implementation

Representatives from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) presented on Monday 20 November the organization’s debt for climate adaptation swaps proposal for the Caribbean nations striken by the recent hurricane season, during a high level conference held in the United Nations’ headquarters in New York. The CARICOM-UN High Level Pledging Conference: “Building a more Climate Resilient Community”, was convened by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and looked to mobilise international support for its M…

CEPAL aboga por propuesta de alivio de deuda para el Caribe y establece un grupo de trabajo para su implementación

Representantes de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) presentaron el lunes 20 de noviembre la propuesta del organismo para aliviar la deuda de las naciones del Caribe que han sido golpeadas por la reciente temporada de huracanes, mediante el canje de instrumentos para la adaptación al cambio climático, durante una conferencia de alto nivel que se realizó en la sede de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York. La Conferencia de donantes de CARICOM-ONU: “Construyendo una Comunidad más Resiliente al Clima” fue convocada por la Comunidad del Caribe (CARICOM), con el apoyo del Pr…

A CEPAL apresenta proposta de alívio da dívida do Caribe e estabelece um grupo de trabalho para sua implementação

No dia 20 de novembro, durante uma conferência de alto nível realizada na sede das Nações Unidas em Nova York, representantes da Comissão Econômica para a América Latina e o Caribe (CEPAL) apresentaram a proposta do organismo para aliviar a dívida das nações do Caribe que foram afetadas pela recente temporada de furacões, mediante a adoção de instrumentos para a adaptação à mudança climática. A Conferência de doadores da CARICOM-ONU: “Construindo uma Comunidade mais Resiliente ao Clima” foi convocada pela Comunidade do Caribe (CARICOM), com o apoio do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvol…

Currency carry trade and the cost of international reserves in Mexico

National strategies aimed at boosting economic growth following the global financial crisis have spawned monetary imbalances between industrial and emerging economies. By implementing ultra-expansionary monetary policies, the industrial economies drive down interest rates, while the emerging economies tighten their monetary policies by raising rates, thus generating a burgeoning foreign-currency carry trade. Vulnerability is caused by the sudden reversal of such capital flows or the high cost of insuring against this by accumulating reserves. This paper estimates that the cost of reserve accum…

Acarreo de divisas y costo de las reservas internacionales en México

Las estrategias nacionales a las que ha llevado la crisis financiera mundial para impulsar el crecimiento económico han inducido a desequilibrios monetarios entre los países industriales y las economías emergentes. Al implementar políticas monetarias ultraexpansivas, los primeros empujan a la baja las tasas de interés, mientras que al introducir políticas monetarias más restrictivas, las segundas incrementan esas tasas de interés, generándose así un creciente acarreo de divisas. Surgen entonces condiciones de vulnerabilidad por la salida súbita de estos capitales o por los altos costos que imp…

CEPAL Review no. 123

Revista CEPAL no. 123

ECLAC establishes task force for Caribbean’s Debt Swap Initiative

The Debt Swap initiative, which was first presented at ECLAC’s Caribbean Development Roundtable in Saint Kitts and Nevis early in 2016,is a mechanism intended to address at once the crippling debt of the Caribbean and their need to generate the resources needed to finance resilience building measures. It is an innovative strategy that involves harnessing concessionary flows to transform the debt of the region into a source of investment in resilience, while at the same time re-energizing growth and promoting economic transformation in the economies of the subregion, through investment in…

ECLAC Advocates for Debt Relief Proposal during Conference on Hurricane Striken Caribbean Held in New York

Representatives from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) presented this Monday 20 November the organization’s debt for climate adaptation swaps proposal for the Caribbean nations striken by the recent hurricane season, during a high level conference being held in the United Nations’ headquarters in New York until Tuesday 21 November. The CARICOM-UN High Level Pledging Conference: “Building a more Climate Resilient Community”, was convened by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and looks to mobilis…

CEPAL aboga por propuesta de alivio de deuda para el Caribe afectado por los huracanes durante conferencia en Nueva York

Representantes de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) presentaron este lunes 20 de noviembre la propuesta del organismo para aliviar la deuda de las naciones del Caribe que han sido golpeadas por la reciente temporada de huracanes, mediante el canje de instrumentos para la adaptación al cambio climático, durante una conferencia de alto nivel que se realiza en la sede de las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York hasta el martes 21. La Conferencia de donantes de CARICOM-ONU: “Construyendo una Comunidad más Resiliente al Clima” fue convocada por la Comunidad del Caribe (CARICOM)…

Criteria for Access to Concessional Financing Must Change to Support Caribbean Countries with their Reconstruction

In the last six months, Caribbean island states have suffered the consequences of the worst hurricane season this century with more than 102 deaths and territories that were completely devastated, such as Barbuda, Anguilla, Saint Martin, Dominica, Cuba and Puerto Rico, among others. To help in their reconstruction and future adaptation to natural disasters, the criteria enabling them to access financing must be changed, according to the senior international officials gathered in New York at a special session of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), convened to address the ef…

Criterios de acceso a financiamiento concesional deben cambiar para apoyar a los países del Caribe en su reconstrucción

Los Estados insulares del Caribe han sufrido en los últimos seis meses las consecuencias de la peor temporada de huracanes del siglo, con más de 102 fallecidos y territorios completamente devastados, como Barbuda, Anguila, San Martín, Dominica, Cuba y Puerto Rico, entre otros. Para ayudar en su reconstrucción y futura adaptación a los desastres naturales será necesario cambiar los criterios que permiten su acceso a financiamiento, coincidieron hoy altos funcionarios internacionales reunidos en Nueva York en una sesión especial del Consejo Económico y Social de las Naciones Unidas (ECOSOC)…

Magisterial Lecture of The Most Hon. Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica

Welcome Remarks by Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC at the Magisterial Lecture of The Most Hon. Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica ECLAC Headquarters, Santiago, 30 August 2017 Excellencies Distinguished representatives Ladies and gentlemen, I am so pleased to welcome the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica to ECLAC Headquarters. Prime Minister, it is an honour to have you and your distinguished delegation in the house. I acknowledge in particular the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Foreign Minister of Jamaica. You represent a country whose cont…

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Gave Keynote Lecture at ECLAC

In the framework of an official visit to Chile, the Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, gave a keynote lecture today at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, in which he advocated for deepening cooperation ties between the countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. The senior official – the first Jamaican leader to visit this United Nations regional organization – was received by ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, who welcomed him and highlighted the country’s commitment to moving ahead on achieving the goals of t…

Primer Ministro de Jamaica realizó conferencia magistral en la CEPAL

En el marco de su visita oficial a Chile, el Primer Ministro de Jamaica, Andrew Holness, realizó hoy una conferencia magistral en la sede de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) en Santiago, en la cual abogó por la profundización de los vínculos de cooperación entre los países del Caribe y de América Latina. La alta autoridad –el primer mandatario de Jamaica en visitar este organismo regional de las Naciones Unidas- fue recibido por la Secretaria Ejecutiva de la CEPAL, Alicia Bárcena, quien le dio la bienvenida y destacó el compromiso del país por avanzar en el cumplim…

Report of the eighteenth meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee

ECLAC’s Executive Secretary Met with Caribbean Ambassadors to Evaluate the Subregion’s Priorities regarding the 2030 Agenda

The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, met today in New York with representatives of the countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to evaluate the subregion’s priorities and specific needs regarding implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Bárcena began by congratulating Belize for being the first country in the Caribbean to present its Voluntary National Review (VNR) to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which held i…

Secretaria Ejecutiva de la CEPAL se reunió con Embajadores del Caribe para evaluar prioridades de la subregión en torno a la Agenda 2030

La Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), Alicia Bárcena, se reunió hoy en Nueva York con representantes de los países de la Comunidad del Caribe (CARICOM) para evaluar las prioridades y necesidades específicas de la subregión en torno a la implementación de la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible y sus 17 Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS). Bárcena felicitó en primer lugar a Belice por ser el primer país del Caribe en presentar su informe nacional voluntario (VNR, por sus siglas en inglés) ante el Foro Político de Alto Nivel sobre el …