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 …

Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2025: boosting investment for growth and sustainable development

The Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 analyses the developments and main trends in public revenues and expenditures, fiscal deficits, public debt and subnational fiscal accounts for the countries of the region in 2024. It confirms that with limited fiscal space, these countries continued to struggle to build up available resources and therefore faced persistent deficits and high debt levels. This report also examines tax incentive policies in dynamic sectors related to environmental sustainability and proposes strategies to increase effectiveness and strengthen governance…

The case for financing: Caribbean resilience building in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has not only been sudden but has required significant re-adjustment on the part of world economies with far-reaching effects anticipated in the short to medium term. For vulnerable Caribbean economies already challenged by high debt service payments, external support is needed to fill the resource gap. The objective of this report is to assess the impact of the pandemic imposed restrictions across six critical sectors and to provide policy recommendations to ensure a swift recovery and make a case for greater external concessional financial support to the…

Caribbean development report: Exploring strategies for sustainable growth and development in Caribbean small island States

The Third Caribbean Development Roundtable (23-24 April 2014) was held under the theme “Exploring strategies for sustainable growth and development in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS)”. The Roundtable focused on challenges faced in stimulating growth and creating a capacity for resilience among the Caribbean SIDS. The conference examined the continuing challenge of igniting robust growth in Caribbean Small States, and at the same time, mitigating structural and cyclical risks and uncertainty. The presentations made at the Roundtable can be placed under six themes which comprise …

Fiscal Covenant, Improved Labour Productivity and Child Protection Policies Are Main Challenges for the Caribbean

(Georgetown, 31 May 2012) The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) ended its second Caribbean Development Rountable (CDR) meeting on Wednesday with calls for Governments to design a fiscal covenant to address the costs and benefits of fiscal consolidation. There was strong emphasis on the need of developing social policies in the sub-region designed to embrace all of the poor, while at the same time finding creative ways to raise resources for social protection. This includes creating more robust and dynamic buffers to cushion economic shocks. During the roundt…

Central American Isthmus: economic evolution during 2005 and perspectives for 2006 (final evaluation)

1. Rasgos generales de la evolución reciente La actividad económica en el Istmo Centroamericano registró en 2005 una expansión igual a la del año anterior (4%), apenas por debajo del promedio de América Latina y el Caribe (4,3%). Excluyendo a Panamá, la tasa de crecimiento se elevó de 3,3% a 3,6%. También fue notable una menor dispersión de las tasas alrededor del promedio. Todos los países se hallan en la fase expansiva del ciclo económico, ya que se cumplieron tres años de incremento del producto interno bruto (PIB) por habitante, después del retroceso ocurrido en el bienio 2001-2002. Si …

Economic survey of the Caribbean 2014: Reduced downside risks and better prospects for a recovery

The current survey provides an overview of the economic performance for 2013 of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago plus the eight member states of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and the outlook for 2014 and 2015. Data were collected from a review of reports from national governments and through interviews with government officials in each of the countries analyzed.…

Macroeconomic success and social vulnerability: lessons for Latin America from the Celtic Tiger

Abstract This paper uses a political economy approach to examine the nature and social impact of Ireland's economic 'miracle', namely the period of high economic growth known as the 'Celtic Tiger', which lasted from 1995 until 2000. Its principal purpose is to offer a broad and multifaceted reading of this period of Irish development, paying particular attention to the links between macroeconomic success and social vulnerability, in order to draw policy lessons for Latin America. The examination of the Celtic Tiger is prefaced by a brief introduction to some of the sa…

The Group of 8 External Debt Cancellation: Effects and implications for Guyana

Oil booms and subnational public investment: a case study for Colombia

Fiscal trends and policy issues and implications for the Caribbean

This document analyses fiscal trends and policies for Caribbean countries. It is divided into six parts. Following the introduction, the second section focuses on trends in government revenue and examines the tax structure at the regional and country level. The third section describes the type of tax incentives granted by Caribbean governments for sectoral development for selected country cases. The fourth part centres on government expenditure; describes the decomposition of government expenditure and analyses the behaviour of the components of government expenditure. The fifth section deals …

Managing in the public sector for investment and growth

This article will focus on the central role played by imperfect or incomplete markets in the spread and perpetuation of recessionary situations. It is a known fact that demand volatility perpetuates such situations, and this can only be mitigated by sustainable economic stimulus policies. Macrofiscal rules, which are important for enhancing the tarnished credibility of State action, need to combine two basic principles: responsibility and stability. This means preserving regulation mechanisms so that excessive macroeconomic fluctuations can be stabilized. The best thing the authorities can do …

Distributional impacts of low for long interest rates

This paper asks whether tepid inflation in Canada since the financial crisis can in part be explained by the effects of monetary policy on inequality. Using different structural vector autoregression models we show that expansionary monetary policy post-crisis has offset otherwise falling inequality through the shifting of resources away from lower-income individuals, which in general have higher marginal propensities to consume. As a result, aggregate demand has not risen as much as it otherwise would have, leading to a more muted inflationary response. Our results suggest that failure to acc…

Strategies for Post COVID-19 Recovery in the Caribbean

Segundo Foro Economico Europa - América Latina: ALC-UE 2014

Los días 20 y 21 de mayo se llevó a cabo en en París, Francia, el Segundo Foro Económico América Latina y el Caribe - Unión Europea 2014: "Europe and Latin America in the wake of global paradigm shifts and new trends in the world economy", impulsado por la CEPAL y la Escuela de Economía de París. El evento biregional dio continuidad al primer Foro Económico UE-ALC, celebrado en enero de 2013 en Santiago de Chile en el marco de la Ia Cumbre UE-CELAC, en el cual académicos y representantes de gobiernos y organismos internacionales discutieron sobre los impactos de la globalización y sus implican…

Call for papers - XIV JORNADAS IBEROAMERICANAS DE FINANCIACIÓN LOCAL

Los días 3 y 4 de septiembre de 2025 se realizará en Asunción (Paraguay) la decimocuarta versión de las Jornadas Iberoamericanas de Financiación Local (XIV-JIFL) organizadas por la Asociación Iberoamericana de Financiación Local (AIFIL), la Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL), la División de Gestión Fiscal del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), el Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas de Paraguay y la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA).…

Demographic models for projections of social sector demand

Abstract This paper presents three demographic models useful for projections of social sector demand. The first model is a probabilistic national population forecast based on the collective experience of UN member states. It offers a set of probabilistic forecasts as a complement to the official UN scenario forecasts. The second model forecasts the population by age and educational level using data from a single census. Forecasts are presented for Chile which show dramatic changes in the educational composition of the elderly population and in the working-age population in the near future. The…

Options for retooling property taxation in Latin America

There is growing recognition that expanded reliance on property taxation would facilitate the achievement of sustainable development goals, providing adequate funding of local services and access to credit for infrastructure. It would also generate more incentives for more accountable local governance. However, this instrument has a large and unexploited revenue potential in Latin America. Ambitions and reform policies are confronted with political and administration obstacles. Also Governments tend to worry about the political costs of taxing property. The paper suggests ways to improve the w…

Preparing a public expenditure review a manual for Caribbean countries

Sustainable bioenergy: a framework for decision makers

PrefacioEn nuestro primer documento, ONUEnergía se centró en El desafío de la Energía para Alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio . Señalamos que los servicios energéticos disponibles no han logrado satisfacer las necesidades de los más pobres del mundo, con 2.400 millones de personas que recurren a la biomasa tradicional para sus necesidades energéticas, y 1.600 millones sin acceso alguno a la electricidad. Los compromisos básicos para la gente pobre no se pueden alcanzar sin un enfoque mucho más centrado hacia los servicios energéticos.Al mismo tiempo, se ha visto un fuerte au…