GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC - Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh will on Monday March 25 present the national budget to the National Assembly. Singh said that the focus of the Donald Ramotar government will be to continue with the acceleration of economic growth and social development, with emphasis on macroeconomic stability and preserving the conditions that are conducive to attracting investment, expanding and upgrading physical infrastructure, expanding access and improving the quality of social services, and strengthening the institutional and regulatory environment.
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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - ON the eve of tonight’s discussion on a strategy for growing the Barbados economy, it is necessary to refer to a paper which the Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr. Delisle Worrell, penned last year.
In the paper published in Washington D.C. by the Group of 30, Dr. Worrell reiterated that economic expansion in this country and, similarly, small economies, must be led by the foreign exchange-earning sectors of the economy.
NEW YORK, CMC - A major international credit rating agency says the liquidity crisis leading to Grenada’ default on its US and Eastern Caribbean (EC) dollar bonds is “credit negative” for the country and elevates the risk of distress spilling over to member countries in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).
The newly-elected Dr. Keith Mitchell administration in Grenada said it would default on the bonds due 2025 because it is unable to secure financing to make a coupon payment on Friday.
BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC - The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and the German Financial Cooperation (KfW) have signed a programme geared towards reducing the risks of climate change on the Caribbean’s coastal population.
The approximately six year Ecosystem-Based Approaches for Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Zones of Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean (EBACC) programme, which is slated to start later this year, will be implemented in St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Jamaica.
PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC- The Government of Suriname has embarked on a joint venture with the Kaloti Group of Dubai to establish the first gold refinery in the Caribbean.
The refinery that is being built near the village of Wit Santi, close to the country’s International Airport, is expected to start operating by next year and produce as much as US$2.77 billion worth of refined gold.
On the weekend, President Desi Bouterse joined Kaloti Chairman Munir Kaloti in expressing high expectations of the facility.
Bridgetown—The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) recently hosted a strategic donor meeting at the offices of the CDB in Barbados to discuss ways to support CCRIF’s new excess rainfall product and to coordinate with donors’ disaster risk management initiatives in the region.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC - All is in place for Monday’s sitting of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in Barbados to hear evidence in the case of Shanique Myrie, the Jamaican woman who took the Government of Barbados to court on allegations that she was assaulted by an immigration officer in 2011.
The CCJ will hear from Immigration department officials who came into contact with Myrie when she landed at the Grantley Adams International Airport in March 2011.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL) recorded losses estimated at US$70 million last year, Finance Minister Larry Howai has said. He told the Senate on Tuesday that the figure does not include the US$40 million in fuel subsidy to the airline even though he insists that the airline remains solvent. “Government has made certain provisions for the airline to restructure its balance sheet.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - For the sake of continuing warmth in the bilateral relationship between Guyana and Venezuela, the Government of Guyana has made all the right diplomatic moves. President Donald Ramotar led the delegation to Hugo Chávez’s state funeral last Friday, declaring a day of national mourning on the same day, and an evening of reflection to honour the late leader was held at Red House on Monday. Elsewhere, however, Mr Chávez’s death has, unsurprisingly, aroused heated debate and divided opinion about his record in office and his legacy.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Some 10,000 workers from across the European Union protested outside a summit of EU leaders yesterday, demanding they end years of austerity and focus instead on curbing runaway unemployment with more spending. The protest in frost and snow just outside EU headquarters vented frustration over spending cuts and tax hikes imposed by the bloc's governments to deal with the debt crisis.