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 ...

Barbados registered economic growth of 10% during July-September 2021 relative to the corresponding period in 2020. However, for the first 9 months of the year economic activity is estimated to have been approximately 3.2% below the corresponding period in 2020. Indeed at end-September, the gross...

According to the October 2021 issue of Regional Economic Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), published by the IMF, the economic performance was robust in the first quarter of 2021 but lost momentum in some countries in the second quarter, reflecting the rebound in COVID-19 cases. R...

Jamaica’s tourism continues to rebound strongly amid the coronavirus pandemic as is reflected in the US$1.7 billion in earnings since the reopening of the country’s borders in June 2020. Since that time, Jamaica has received 1,285,368 visitors — including 8,381 cruise passengers. According to Tou...

Effective January 1, 2022, Trinidad and Tobago will be removing all custom duties, motor vehicle tax and value-added tax on the importation of battery-powered electric vehicles with an age limit on imported used battery-powered electric vehicles of two years. This policy will be subject to review...

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has raised its policy interest rate by 100 basis points to 1.50% as inflation breached the upper limit of the bank’s target range in August. However the action will “moderate” the economy’s growth potential. The policy interest rate has stood at a historic low of 0.5% si...

The US-based rating agency Moody’s downgraded the sovereign creditworthiness of The Bahamas slashed the country’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to ‘Ba3’ from ‘Ba2, a day after the general election. Moody’s, in maintaining a “negative outlook” on The Bahamas, justified the downgrad...