CARICOM urges international financing groups to support tourist-dependent nations

-vital for the recovery during pandemic

– Dr. Ralph Gonsalves

Caribbean countries need mammoth support from International Financial Institutions to reverse the double-digit contractions tourism dependent territories are experiencing, due to COVID-19. These institutions include the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, shared this viewpoint in his address at the Sixth edition of the Caribbean Economic Forum. The forum was organised by Barbados’ Central Bank on December 8.

“We are going to require from the International Financial Institutions a level of support that we have not seen and we are going to have to have new instruments and new initiatives. We have handled the COVID situation fairly well, but that is from the standpoint of infections and deaths but heavenly Father, the financial situation is extraordinarily difficult and people are becoming very restless across the region,” Dr. Gonsalves said.

He said the situation is expected to deteriorate further going into the first half of 2021.

However, Director of the IMF – Western Hemisphere Department, Mr. Alejandro Werner, said the IMF has rolled out significant financial support to cushion the drop in taxes Governments have faced. This is coupled with increasing expenditure to support households.

His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali expressed similar sentiments recently. The President had called on developed countries to use an integrated approach to assist Small Island Developing States.

President Ali was at the time addressing the FAO Brussels Dialogue on weathering COVID-19 in Small Island Developing States on December 10.

“The more developed countries must immediately take steps to support Small Island Developing States through a menu of mechanisms, including debt relief, balance of payment support to help SIDS meet their food import bills, technical support for agriculture, capacity building and financing for agricultural development.”

President Ali further called “on the international community to advance SIDS visibility and provide the requisite financial and technical support to bolster resilience efforts. We are duty-bound to think collectively and act in solidarity to save humanity.”

The Head of State said international organisations must support the calls for the suspension of debt service payments and deploy deferred payments to enhance food security in SIDS.

Further, at the launch of Tourism Awareness Month in November, President Ali said Guyana’s tourism sector will emerge “stronger and more resilient” from the pandemic.