The newly approved T&T Special Economic Zones Bill, 2021 will result in the creation of a SEZ Authority. Entitled “An Act to provide for the designation, development, operation and management of Special Economic Zones,” the new law will repeal the existing Free Zones Act. According to Trade M...

Grenada’s recovery from the pandemic is being led by construction & agriculture, resulting in an expected expansion of real output of approximately 5% in 2022. According to the IMF, the current account deficit has widened, as weak tourism receipts, higher fuel prices and import demand from co...

Within the first 5 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regional tourism already afflicted by a downturn in visitor arrivals faced delayed payments from major international tour operators. According to the CHTA, by May 2020, 69% of hotels had reported being owed from US$200,000 up to US$15 million. I...

Total value added for the Jamaican economy increased by 5.8% during the third quarter of 2021 relative to the third quarter of 2020. According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, this was attributable to growth in both the Services and Goods Producing Industries of 7.1 and 2.4% respectively....

The Bahamas is now compliant with 38 out of 40 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations to strengthen its AML/CFT framework, with the Caribbean arm of the regulatory body, noting that this jurisdiction is now “compliant” with 18 recommendations and “largely compliant” on 20 of them. The...

The IMF is projecting that Dominica will record sustained annual growth of 5% from 2022 thru 2026. Coming at the conclusion of its Article IV consultation, the IMF noted that the growth outlook is promising, supported by the large public investment program and the projected gradual recovery in touri...

The Jamaican economy grew by 6.3% for the July-September 2021 quarter relative to the similar quarter in 2020, reflecting continued recovery in most sectors, except mining, growth estimates from the Planning Institute of Jamaica, PIOJ, reveal. The mining sector declined 31% given the closure of a...

Anticipating recovery in oil and gas production, the IMF is projecting growth for Trinidad and Tobago of 5.7% and headline inflation of 2.4% in 2022. These projections reflect the findings of the recently concluded Article IV consultations, which projected a decline in real GDP of 1% for 2021, ho...

The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago injected US$1.012 billion into the foreign exchange market between January and October 2021. According to Finance Minister Colm Imbert, the Government, through the Exim Bank, has provided access to a further US$524 million, which “led to a total interventio...

In its first 12 months, the work from home in Bermuda (WFB) certificate has had an estimated value-added of $23.3 million to the economy. According to Labour Minister, Jason Hayward, 638 people took up the scheme and 206 families still lived on the island as a result. The initiative was launched ...