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IMF calls for ‘decisive’ action

The International Monetary Fund has warned the Caribbean region to prepare for negative growth and called for decisive actions by leaders to reduce the financial fallout from the Coronavirus crisis. 

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TheBahamasInvestor.com
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Tuesday, March 24, 2020

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the Caribbean region to prepare for negative growth and called for decisive actions by leaders to reduce the financial fallout from the Coronavirus crisis.

“The recovery we were expecting a few months ago will not happen and a 2020 with negative growth is not an unlikely scenario,” said Alejandro Werner IMF’s Director of the Western Hemisphere Department.


“In the Caribbean, lower tourism demand due to travel restrictions and ‘the fear factor’—even after the outbreak recedes—will weigh heavily on economic activity. Commodity exporters will also be strongly impacted and a reduction in remittances is likely to add to the economic strain.”

Werner advises targetted policy actions to mitigate the economic impact, including tax relief and wage subsidies to protect vulnerable households alongside strong contingency and monitoring plans from central banks in the region.

He added that the IMF is mobilising to help small island nations recover, and that the Caribbean region still has a chance to head off the worst of the pandemic.

“Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have been hit later than other regions from the pandemic and therefore have a chance to flatten the curve of contagion.”

“For our part, the IMF stands ready to help mitigate the economic fallout from the Coronavirus and we have several facilities and instruments at our disposal. The fund stands ready to assist and work with member countries in these difficult times.”

In a statement released March 21 following the announcement of the death of Atlantis Paradise Island developer Sir Sol Kerzner, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis called the South African hotel mogul a maverick businessman and pioneer.

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association is hopeful that the region's tourism industry will rebound and "emerge stronger" once the current Coronavirus pandemic has passed, citing the sector's resilience to economic shocks.

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