“The three fastest growing economies for 2019 were Dominica (9.0 percent), Anguilla (6.3 percent) and Antigua and Barbuda (6.2 percent),” the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC’s) Preliminary Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean for 2019 stated.
At the launch of the Preliminary Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean, Sheldon McLean, the Coordinator of Economic Development Unit of ECLAC, Port of Spain, reviewed the macroeconomic performance of the Caribbean economies in 2019 and outlined projections for 2020.
His presentation summary stated that, “some strong growth increases as growth strengthened in the hurricane ravaged economies of Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda as reconstruction efforts intensified, foreign direct investments strengthened and the tourism industry recovered with public sector investment support.”
However, “economic growth was subdued in 2019 across most Caribbean economies due to the impact of fiscal austerity measures in some countries and lack of investor confidence. The weighted average real growth in the region remained unchanged at 1.4 percent in 2019 relative to 2018. Among the goods-producing economies, GDP growth is expected to be 1.2 percent in 2019 (up from 0.8 percent in 2018), while the service-producing economies declined marginally to 1.7 percent (down from 1.8 percent in 2018).”
With that being said, ECLAC declared that “the 2014-2020 period will mark the lowest growth in the last seven decades for Latin American and Caribbean Economies”.
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