Honourable Kerrie Symonds, Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship of Barbados;  Mr. Neil Corbin, President of the Barbados Small Business Association; Senator Dr. Lynette Holder, Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Small Business Association; Dr. Deodat Maharaj, Ex...

Jamaica’s total spending on Imports for January – May 2021 amounted to US$2,249.3 million, an increase of 12.0% relative to the same period in 2020. This increase was mainly attributable to higher imports of Fuels and Lubricants (42.7%) and Raw Materials / Intermediate Goods (13.8%). Total export...

A new “Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean” report released by ECLAC raised its growth forecast for the Region from 5.2% in July to 5.9%. Despite the encouraging improvement, these figures remain below par to bounce back from 2019's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the Caribbean posi...

Tourism interests in Barbados are now viewing the upcoming 2021/22 winter tourism season optimistically based on the latest statistics from the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI). During July 2021, some 10,819 visitors travelled to Barbados, a significant increase of 6,745 visitors compared t...

Effective August 1, 2021, Guyana by statute reduced freight charges to pre-pandemic levels (March 31, 2020) in the calculation of customs duties, excise taxes, and input VAT on goods imported. This facility however expires on January 31, 2022. This was occasioned by marked increase in shipping co...

The Fiscal Reports for the months of April, May and June have shown that the Government of Grenada earned more than the targeted revenue as projected in the 2021 Estimate of Revenue. For the 3-month period total revenue collections equalled EC$175.9 million, $18.6 million above target or $32.7 mi...

Barbados has recorded growth of 5.5% during the April to June quarter of 2021. That’s the word from Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Cleviston Haynes who is predicting growth of 1 to 3% for calendar 2021. Haynes said the performance of the economy continued to be constrained by the protra...

The Cayman Islands has announced a five-phase approach to reopening its tourism sector. During the first phase or ‘reduced quarantine period’, which began in June, fully vaccinated travellers are subject to a mandatory 5-day quarantine while the unvaccinated undergo 14-days isolation. In the seco...

For the first 4 months of 2021, remittance inflows into Jamaica exceeded the US$1-billion mark. Net remittance inflows of US$1012.7 million increased by 52.6% or US$349.1 million relative to the previous corresponding period. This improvement resulted from an increase of 46.2% or S$345.7 million ...

St. Kitts and Nevis is implementing another round of income support for residents who became redundant in March 2020 and remain unemployed because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris announced the $15 million, 2021 Income Support Programme on July 08. Under the progr...