Economic Survey of the Caribbean 2010-2011: improving economic prospects amid global recovery

This survey provides an overview of the economic performance of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, together with the eight member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) countries for 2010 and their outlook for 2011. The first section is a summary of the main issues raised in the report including an assessment of the economic prospects for 2011. Chapter II analyses the impact of the global economy on the subregion then provides a comparative analysis of the GDP and sectoral growth performance. This is followed by the subsection on…

Fiscal policy and social protection

The inadequacies of social protection in Latin America and the Caribbean reveal a clear need for more active fiscal policies in this area. Although economic growth and decent employment are indispensable preconditions for social progress, the need for financing from public expenditure is ineluctable in the medium term. The present article examines three ways of achieving this objective. The first is to close the tax gap, since the fiscal burden is low in most Latin American and Caribbean countries. The second is to construct budgeting systems capable of removing rigidities and reallocating pub…

Economic survey of the Caribbean, 2006-2007

This survey provides an overview of the macroeconomic performance of countries of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) for the year 2006 and their outlook for 2007. The report consists of three chapters. The first one provides a regional analysis of the main economic indicators from a comparative perspective. The second chapter deals with two selected topics of particular relevance for the economic development of Caribbean countries, namely remittances and migration, and natural resources dependency. The last chapter presents country briefs with the main macroeconomic dev…

Development of a modelling framework in support of an assessment of the economic and social impacts of climate change in the Caribbean: the ECLAC – CIAM Model

The Caribbean region remains highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In order to assess the social and economic consequences of climate change for the region, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean( ECLAC) has developed a model for this purpose. The model is referred to as the Climate Impact Assessment Model (ECLAC-CIAM) and is a tool that can simultaneously assess multiple sectoral climate impacts specific to the Caribbean as a whole and for individual countries. To achieve this goal, an Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) with a Computable General Equilibrium C…

Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 1990-2020 = Estadísticas tributarias en América Latina y el Caribe 1990-2020

Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 2022 is a joint publication by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, the OECD Development Centre, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC), the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with the support of the European Union Regional Facility for Development in Transition for Latin America and the Caribbean. It presents detailed, internationally comparable data on tax rev…

Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 1990-2019 / Estadísticas tributarias en América Latina y el Caribe 1990-2019

Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021 is a joint publication by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, the OECD Development Centre, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC), the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with the support of the European Union Regional Facility for Development in Transition for Latin America and the Caribbean. It presents detailed, internationally comparable data on t…

Decentralization, territorial transfers and local development

Concerted action by political, social and private actors at the local level can be very useful for promoting economic competitiveness, but in order for it to become a reality it would be essential for the local communities to have greater autonomy and resources, as well as equal opportunities. This article begins by investigating the conditions required in order to ensure that the deeper political decentralization needed for local development will promote efficiency and equity, as well as the ways in which transfer systems can become decisive means for increasing equity and generating greater …

CEPAL y OCDE analizan caminos de cooperación

(4 de abril, 2011) El Secretario General de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE), Ángel Gurría, visitó el lunes 4 de abril la sede de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) en Santiago, Chile, donde sostuvo una reunión de trabajo con los directores de la institución para tratar temas de la coyuntura económica actual y el papel de América Latina y el Caribe. Gurría fue recibido por la Secretaria Ejecutiva de la CEPAL, Alicia Bárcena, con quien discutió la posibilidad de ampliar los espacios de cooperación entre ambos organismos. La agenda d…

ECLAC Reaffirms the Importance of Investment to Recover Growth in the Region

To promote public investment is crucial for sustaining economic growth in the region, Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said in Lima, Peru, where she participated in several high-level events. Alicia Bárcena held a series of interviews with authorities of the Ministries of Economy and Finance of several countries of the region and will accompany the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, during his visit to Peru to attend the 2015 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) being he…

ECLAC Reiterates the Importance of Reducing the High Level of Tax Evasion and Illicit Financial Flows to Increase the Region’s Fiscal Space

Increasing public revenue is key to strengthening fiscal policy’s capacity for action and bolstering the mobilization of resources to finance the 2030 Agenda. This according to the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2019, an annual publication by ECLAC released today on the institution’s website. The report – which analyzes current fiscal trends, the evolution of fiscal policies and their future challenges – adds that tackling the high level of tax incompliance and illicit financial flows in the region is more necessary than ever. According to the latest estimate of the Economi…

ECLAC Will Present its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2020

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will present on Tuesday, October 6 its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2020: Main conditioning factors of fiscal and monetary policies in the post-COVID-19 era, the institution’s flagship annual economic report, which takes stock of the region’s economies in the last year, with special emphasis on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, and examines the prospects for the coming months. The latest edition of this document – published by the United Nations regional commission since 1948 – will present an analysis o…

ECLAC Supports Fiscal Reform in Costa Rica to Maintain the Progress Made

Costa Rica has been able to transform its productive structure, and its achievements in forging a welfare state with greater equality and human development have been an example for all of Latin America. Now they must be defended with a comprehensive and timely fiscal reform, Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said during a two-day working visit to the Central American country. At the start of her visit on Thursday, ECLAC’s most senior representative met with the country’s Vice President and Finance Minister, Helio Fallas,…

CEPAL reafirma importancia de la inversión para recuperar el crecimiento en la región

Promover la inversión pública es crucial para sostener el crecimiento económico de la región, sostuvo la Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), Alicia Bárcena, en Lima, Perú, donde participó en varios eventos de alto nivel. Alicia Bárcena sustuvo una serie de entrevistas con autoridades de los ministerios de economía y finanzas de varios países de la región y acompañará hoy al Secretario General de las Naciones Unidas, Ban Ki-moon, en su visita al país para asistir a las reuniones anuales 2015 del Grupo Banco Mundial y el Fondo Monetario Internac…

CEPAL apoya reforma fiscal en Costa Rica para sostener los logros alcanzados

Costa Rica ha sido capaz de transformar su estructura productiva y sus logros en la construcción de un Estado de Bienestar con mayor igualdad y desarrollo humano han sido ejemplo para América Latina. Ahora deben ser defendidos con una reforma fiscal integral y oportuna, sostuvo la Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), Alicia Bárcena, durante un viaje de trabajo de dos días al país centroamericano. Al iniciar su visita este jueves, la máxima representante de la CEPAL se reunió con el Vicepresidente del país y Ministro de Hacienda, Helio Fallas, p…

Encuentro con Thomas Piketty, autor de “El Capital en el Siglo XXI”

PALABRAS DE ALICIA BÁRCENA, SECRETARIA EJECUTIVA DE LA CEPAL, EN OCASIÓN DEL ENCUENTRO CON THOMAS PIKETTY, AUTOR DE “EL CAPITAL EN EL SIGLO XXI” 15 de enero de 2015 Santiago de Chile CEPAL Bienvenido a esta, la casa de las Naciones Unidas en América Latina y el Caribe. A nombre de la CEPAL y el mío propio, le agradezco que haya aceptado nuestra invitación para compartir esta jornada, en medio de una agenda muy exigente. Quiero felicitarlo por la calidad de su libro, resultado de 15 años de trabajo. Su visita coincide con acontecimientos lamentables fundados en la intolerancia y en la vi…

Report of the twenty-ninth session of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States-Central American Free Trade Agreement: fiscal implications for the Central American countries

In this paper we estimate the fiscal implications of the free trade agreement signed between the United States of America and the five Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Of the five possible effects on fiscal revenue (direct, indirect, elasticity, substitution and induced), in this paper we estimate the first three. The fourth effect is most likely negligible, whereas the estimation of the fifth one would be plagued by uncertainty, so we do not attempt it here. We use comparative statics to estimate the impact. We find the adverse …

El punto de vista de las empresas transnacionales acerca del reciente documento de la OECD: Transfer pricing guidelines for multinational enterprises and tax administrations"

Evolution of fiscal policy in the Caribbean: based on data for the period 1987-1996

Summary Fiscal performance showed modest improvement during the period under review. Deficits contracted and so did national debts. This was possible however only because of reduced spending since revenues - capital, recurrent, and grants in aid - fell. Governments found it easier to reduce spending on the purchase of goods and services and on gross investment rather than on wages and salaries or on transfers. In the countries which had experienced severe disequilibrium in the past and therefore had accumulated a large debt, the legacy of interest payments and amortization charges remained…

Issues, effects and implications of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Agreement for CARICOM economies

The objective of this document is to analyse some of the main issues, effects and implications of the FTAA for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) economies. It also considers when relevant and for comparison purposes the cases of non-independent States. The document is divided into seven sections. Following the introduction, the second section describes, albeit briefly, the main issues that are found in the Free Trade Areas literature. The third section introduces the FTAA participants highlighting their economic and social disparities. The fourth section centers on the FTAA underlying principles …