The Caribbean Community (Caricom) is undergoing what may be its toughest economic cycle in decades, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling across the region, weak fiscal positions, mounting public debt and growing unemployment. In its World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund says it expects all Caribbean countries, with the exception of the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Bahamas, to have public-debt-to-GDP ratios of more than 60%.
Saint Kitts and Nevis and Jamaica have ratios significantly higher than 140%, with Saint Kitts forced to restructure its public debt earlier this year. Meanwhile, due to poor growth, there have been widespread concerns about Belize’s ability to service its $550m ‘super bond’, despite the country’s more comfortable debt-to-GDP ratio, estimated to be just under 80% at the end of 2012.