The Bahamas is targeting a $400m increase in annual passenger spending after data revealed more than 40% spent less than $50 in Nassau pre-COVID, thereby seeking to increase expenditure to $100 per head. According to the Ministry of Tourism in The Bahamas, data for 2019, the last full year prior ...

Time to Adapt From the Executive Director's Desk "We are living in unprecedented times. We are traveling through unchartered waters. The times in which we are living are uncertain, complex, insecure and anxiety-inducing. The COVID-19 crisis has greatly intensified the uncertainty, complexity a...

Fitch Ratings Agency, has affirmed Jamaica’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B+’ with the outlook remaining stable. The Stable Outlook is supported by the expectation that the public debt level will return to a firm downward path post-pandemic, which is underpinned by p...

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is reporting that the economies of its 19 Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) contracted by 12.8% on average in 2020 but is projecting an average GDP growth of 3.8% in 2021. According to the Bank in 2020, the majority of BMCs registered double-digit declines in ...

Over a quarter of businesses in the Caribbean have not been able to meet their digitisation goals. This was revealed by PricewaterhouseCoopers in its Caribbean Digital Readiness Survey 2021. In the survey, 42% of respondents believed they were on target to meet their goals while 28% said they wer...

Jamaica’s net remittance flows totalled $220.9 million as at November 2020 reflecting an increase of 25.7% or US$45.2 million over November 2019. This increase resulted from a rise in gross remittance inflows of 18.7% or US$37.5 million aided by a decrease of 32% or US$7.7 million in outflows. Ba...

This week’s CARICOM BUSINESS Newsletter features some of the economic fall out as the Region continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. This edition touches on developments in Barbados, Jamaica, the Bahamas and St. Vincent and the Grenadines,  as well as the European Union’s continuing...

The Board of Governors of the CDB has elected Hyginus “Gene” Leon to serve as the next President of the multilateral institution. Leon’s appointment will become effective on May 1, 2021. He will succeed W. Warren Smith. Leon has over 30 years of experience in economic development and has directed...

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke, says Jamaica’s private securities market grew by approximately 100% between 2017 and 2020, with the value of bond issuance transactions doubling from some $200 million to $400 million. This metric was noted within the context that the banking sector recorded loan...

Grenada’s light and power company monopoly, Grenlec, will continue to operate as a private company, although the government has repurchased the majority shares owned by WRB Enterprises. Through a US$63-million settlement, which is US$12 million less than an arbitration award, the government regai...