Latin American and Caribbean bond issuance in international markets amounted to US$ 121.8 billion in 2024, 36% higher than in 2023 and the strongest figure in three years. The average coupon rate, at 7.1%, was slightly above the 2023 level of 6.9%, indicating that financing costs remain elevated. Although the market was still open to high-yield issuers, investment grade bonds accounted for 57% of the region’s issuance.
In 2024, issuance of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds on international markets climbed by 6% relative to 2023, to a total of US$ 33.1 billi…
Latin America and the Caribbean is mired in a decades-long growth trap, and further hampered by global and regional conditions that limit the space for macroeconomic policies to spur economic growth in the region. The results of the Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024 reveal weaker job creation, especially in the formal sector, with young people, women, older persons, migrants and rural dwellers among the most likely to be informal workers. In addition, an intensification of climate change effects will drastically reduce the number of jobs created in the medium term if mit…
Through a combination of primary and secondary research, this study sheds light on the effects of the pandemic on the tourism industries of the small island states of Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Additionally, the study seeks to identify potential areas for niche market development to diversify the tourism sector in these destinations. Using a counterfactual analysis, visitor expenditure losses were estimated at over $7 billion over the period 2020 to 2022, among the three countries under review.
The easing of restrictions on movement in 2021 and 2022 however al…
The United States economy contracted by 3.5% in 2020 —the worst performance since the Second World War— but is currently expected to grow by an estimated 6.5% in 2021, the fastest pace in three decades. While there is optimism for the growth outlook this year and beyond, uncertainty and risks prevail.
The United States economic outlook: 2020 in review and early 2021 developments presents and analyses the developments in the United States economy in 2020 and early 2021, and examines how they could affect financial conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report includes a gender focus…
These are the main highlights of the Capital Flows to Latin America, Third Quarter 2019 edition:
• International bond issuance from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2019 was US$ 39.3 billion. It was up 17% from the second quarter, and up 541% from the third quarter of 2018, and it was the highest third-quarter issuance since 2010.
• From January to October 2019, the region’s total bond issuance reached US$ 103 billion, 20% higher than in the same period in 2018.
• The three top issuers, sovereign and corporate issuance combined, accounted for 65% of the tota…
Highlights:
-In the third quarter of 2018, the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.5% after rising 4.2% in the second quarter. Growth remained strong, but its composition deteriorated, as inventories accounted for almost two-thirds of the growth. Growth was led by consumer spending, which contributed 2.45% to growth, down from 2.6% in the second quarter, and inventories, which contributed 2.3%.
-U.S. employers added 2,268,000 jobs from January to November 2018, more jobs than in 2017.
Unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% at the end of November, the lowest level since 1969, while year…
Due to historically low internal saving rates, access to external financing is very important to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), even more so in the context of the 2030 Agenda and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Public financing falls short of what is needed for this task and must be complemented with private flows, which in fact make up the bulk of the region’s external financing. The credit quality of the sovereigns in the region has an important role in determining how costly the access to private external financing can be.
This report examines the his…
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…
The U.S. economic expansion remains on track and it has entered its ninth year. October marked the 100th month of growth for the U.S. economy. In about two years the current economic expansion will be the longest on record.1 The unemployment rate sits at 4.1%, the lowest level since December 2000, suggesting the economy has reached, or nearly reached, full capacity.
In the third quarter, the U.S. economy achieved a milestone: the output gap closed. This is the first time that the output gap, or the difference between the actual GDP (based on data by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of …
The importance of sound and accurate early estimates of economic activity is of utmost importance to national economic authorities at the time of the decision-making process, and to the various agents involved in the economic analysis and follow up of the short-term economic prospects. In this context, the availability of short-term forecasts for quarterly GDP growth rates becomes highly relevant. In Latin America and the Caribbean an increasing amount of countries is producing high frequency economic data, and there has been an increasing interest by national authorities to use this data to i…
The Preliminary Overview of the Economies of the Caribbean analyzes in its 2016-2017 edition the economic performance of the region throughout 2016, the international context and macroeconomic policies implemented by countries, while also providing an outlook for 2017. The Caribbean recorded economic growth of only 0.8 per cent in 2016 but growth is expected to rebound to 2.4 per cent in 2017. The poor performance observed in 2016 was primarily due to a 3.7 percent contraction in the goods producing economies, which were hard hit by the decline in commodity prices in general and hydrocarbons i…
Given the asymmetry in the levels of development and capacity which exist between the EU and
CARIFORUM States, the architects of the CARIFORUM-European Union (EU) Economic
Partnership Agreement (EPA)1 anticipated the need for review and monitoring of the impacts of
implementation. Article 5 and other provisions in the Agreement therefore specifically mandate that
monitoring be undertaken to ensure that the Agreement benefits a wide cross-section of the population
in member countries.
The paper seeks to provide a preliminary assessment of the impact of the EPA on
CARIFORUM countries. In so doin…
individuals spend their time, on a daily or weekly basis, is time-use surveys. These surveys take many
different forms to collect vital information which can be used to estimate not only the value of paid and
unpaid work, but also the composition of the labour force. The time-use survey is the only available tool
for measuring unpaid care work and is also a more cost effective method of collecting timely and accurate
data on the gender division of labour within households and the interdependence of the paid and unpaid
work undertaken by women and men. This data can be used to enhance the formu…
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) held a high-level thematic debate on "Addressing Excessive Price Volatility in Food and Related Financial and Commodity Markets," under the auspices of the President of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.
The event was part of a UNGA resolution on excessive price volatility adopted on 14 February 2012, which called for policies to address long-term structural issues of the commodity economy and integrate commodity policies into wider development and poverty eradication strategies at all levels.
The resolution underscored the financial regula…
This report was prepared on the request of the Government of Jamaica following the declaration
of the state of emergency in the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew. The Planning Institute of Jamaica
(PIOJ) recognized the need to have an objective analysis of the total effect of the event, and, so, be in a
better position to identify possible programmes and projects which may contribute to the redevelopment
of the affected area.
The assessment was carried out using the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC) Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA) methodology.
Baseline data fo…
This brief note presents some thoughts about the possible effects of the failure to renew the Andean Trade Preferences and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA); and its possible expiration this coming December 31. United States President, George W. Bush, asked his country's Congress to extend the validity of the trade preferences granted to the Andean countries under the ATPDEA. That news was welcomed and applauded by the Andean countries, which hailed this measure and promptly thanked the U.S. leader for his gesture.
Even so, it is evident that there are Congressmen in the United States who do …
This special issue of the United States economic outlook examines the trends in the ownership composition of United States federal debt holders, focusing on the balance between domestic and foreign investors and its implications for fiscal policy, financial stability and Latin America and the Caribbean. It provides updated data through mid-2025 on the structure of Treasury holdings, highlighting both the region’s participation as holders of United States debt and the strategies adopted by Latin American and Caribbean countries. The publication builds on two earlier reports by the ECLAC office …
The aim of this study is to consolidate the many sources of information on AI in the Caribbean, providing policymakers, academics and decision makers in the Caribbean AI space with a general overview of the AI landscape in the Caribbean, while making initial recommendations and suggesting areas for future research.
Given the pace at which the field of AI is developing, and how quickly AI tools have become generally available to the public, data and research on the impacts of AI and AI readiness are limited. This study is therefore not comprehensive in its assessment. As a desk study, the resea…
The United States economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.1% in the third quarter of 2024, above the economy’s long-term growth potential and the 3.0% growth recorded in the second quarter, driven primarily by consumer spending. The resilience of consumer spending has been supported by receding inflation and a robust labour market. Employment has increased for 47 consecutive months, but the labour market is softening. Progress in bringing down inflation has stalled over the past three months, with inflation rising from 2.4% in September 2024 to 2.7% in November. The Federal Reserve cut int…
The United States economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.0% in the second quarter of 2024 —more than double the 1.4% GDP growth recorded in the first quarter and well above the economy’s long-term growth potential—, driven primarily by consumer spending. The resilience of consumer spending has been supported by receding inflation and a robust labour market. Inflation slowed to 2.5% in August 2024, the lowest level in more than three years. Employment has increased for 44 consecutive months, but the labour market is softening. The Federal Reserve announced an interest rate cut of 0.50% in …