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SOURCE: Loop Caribbean News
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects economic growth in the Caribbean to remain stable this year at around 2.4 per cent.
The IMF’s growth projection for the Caribbean was revealed by Communication’s Director Julie Kozack at a media conference in Washington DC on February 6.
Kozack said the Caribbean experienced a rapid recovery after the coronavirus pandemic with real GDP growth in the region apart from Guyana and Haiti being estimated at 2.2 percent for 2023 and 2.4 percent for 2024.
“Broadly speaking, there are sort of two groups of countries in the Caribbean. So, we look at tourism-dependent economies, and there we see that growth in tourism economies has slowed as tourism arrivals have returned to pre-Pandemic levels. And then for commodity-exporting countries, they have faced challenges in the energy sector but have overall benefited from robust performance in their non-energy sector, and that has been driven by supportive and economic policies,” she said.
Kozack said inflation in the region has been moderate mainly due to lower global commodity prices and the easing of supply chain disruptions.
She added the IMF expects inflation figures to remain moderate in the years to come.
Teams from the IMF will visit several Caribbean countries in the coming months to conduct their Article IV consultations to assess the state of the economy.
The assessments will provide a clear view of the economic situation in each country along with projected growth.
The IMF destabilized many caribbean economies claiming that they are assisting. If a country is broke the best way to assist is to bail them out… not by putting loans on their backs for their great grand children to repay
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) often faces criticism for its approach to economic growth projections and interventions in developing regions like the Caribbean. Critics argue that while the IMF forecasts stable growth, it may overlook the broader socio-economic challenges that countries face, such as high levels of inequality, unemployment, and vulnerabilities to external shocks like climate change and global economic fluctuations.
Furthermore, there are concerns that IMF recommendations for fiscal austerity can lead to cuts in essential services, affecting those who are already most vulnerable. Instead of fostering sustainable and inclusive growth, the focus on stabilizing economies can sometimes prioritize short-term financial health over long-term development goals, leaving some communities behind. In this context, a more nuanced understanding of local needs and conditions may lead to better economic outcomes than reliance on broad, generalized projections.