The Occidental Seaboard beckons as Trinidad & Tobago pivots to Guyana

As the Bolivarian door closes, the gates of the Western Atlantic Seaboard open wide on the southeastern boundary of the Occidental Sea for the victorious government which de-risked Trinidad and Tobago to expand the economy to new frontiers.

Amid exciting outreach to Guyana and Suriname, synergy intensifies among the three leaders after decades of rapport. The T&T  Energy Ministry can justifiably invite deepwater champion Exxonmobil Guyana to bid for blocks in the 2025 Deepwater round.

EM left Trinidad in 2022 and may respond to a dynamic regime seeking its return to the petrostate where the Atlantic Basin revealed its sweet spot for hydrocarbons.

 

 

2025 Deep Water Competitive Bidding Round

The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is pleased to announce the extension of the date of submission of bids for its 2025 Deep Water Competitive Bidding Round to 12 noon on September 17th 2025.

The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago invites stakeholders’ participation in its Deep Water Competitive Bidding Round 2025. This bidding round contains twenty-six (26) offshore blocks, namely, Block 24, Block 26, TTDAA 1, TTDAA 10, TTDAA 11, TTDAA 12, TTDAA 13, TTDAA 15, TTDAA 16, TTDAA 2, TTDAA 24, TTDAA 25, TTDAA 26, TTDAA 27, TTDAA 28, TTDAA 29, TTDAA 3, TTDAA 30, TTDAA 31, TTDAA 32, TTDAA 4, TTDAA 5, TTDAA 6, TTDAA 7, TTDAA 8 and TTDAA 9. These blocks are located along the eastern and northern coasts of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Deep-Water Competitive Bidding Round opened on January 27th, 2025 with the deadline for submission of bids being 12 noon on September 17th, 2025. Successful bids will be announced three (3) months following the close of bidding

Competitive Bidding Order (CBO)

The Petroleum Regulations (Deep Water Competitive Bidding) Order, 2025 and the Petroleum Regulations (Deep Water Competitive Bidding) (Amendment) Order 2025 outlines the requirements of bid submission, maps and descriptions of the blocks, the summary bid form, and the evaluation method for bid submissions.

Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC)

These deep water blocks will be governed by Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) agreements. The 2025 Model PSC – to be positively vetted by the Attorney General ensures that operations are conducted to international standards and that all parties receive a fair share of revenue generated by extraction and disposal of crude oil and natural gas.

Data Package

A pre-bid fee of US$ 25,000 allows interested parties to participate in this 2025 Deep Water Competitive Bidding Round. Payment of this fee entitles parties to a data package which provides information on the twenty-six (26) blocks on offer to assist in acreage evaluation as detailed in the Data Package Listing. The data package also contains the Local Content and Local Participation Framework for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago dated 7th October 2004, and the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan.

Guidelines for obtaining a data package are outlined in the Procedure for Obtaining a Data Package. You are required to fill out the Data Package Request Form and send via e-mail to:

Keon Dube Senior Geophysicist (Ag.)
kdube@energy.gov.tt
(868) 225-4334 ext. 2371

Upon receipt of the completed form, the MEEI will contact you to provide further instructions for the execution of a Data Use Agreement to obtain access to the Data Package.

Virtual Data Room

The Ministry, in collaboration with Lynx Information Systems Inc. (Lynx), has launched a Virtual Data Room (VDR) to provide view-only access to technical data for the Bidding Round. The VDR is accessible at https://ttdeepwaterbid2025.com/.

While the downloadable data package remains the primary resource for detailed block evaluation—allowing for full interpretation and analysis—the VDR allows users to preview our datasets and perform quality control checks when loading the data onto their workstations.

Contact :

Email: bidround@energy.gov.tt

Kimberlee London, Senior Geologist
klondon@energy.gov.tt
(868) 225-4334 ext. 2360

Other Useful Links

2025 Upstream Activity Map

Data Package Maps

 

 

 

Phoenix Park Gas Processors bids for Guyana gas plant

Denis Chabrol 23 June 2025,

T&T Energy Minister Roodal Moonilal told Parliament that majority state-owned Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited (PPGPL) is interested in establishing a natural gas processing plant in energy export superpower Guyana, as part of a wider plan to establish a foothold in the petrostate.

“Today, we have another activity taking place, where PPGPL is actively seeking to develop a natural gas processing plant in Guyana, signifying its interest in expanding its operations into the market. We are hoping that that bid goes well.. that something can happen there.”

He was asked to say publicly that the government “has been in touch” with the Oil and Gas Energy Chamber in Guyana which pledged its support to TT companies to work there.

With over a century in oil and gas and infrastructure and human resources, T&T “had no footprint” in CARICOM territories. Suriname, Barbados, and Guyana produce oil. Instead, it was left to the ingenuity and creativity of Trinidad and Tobago service companies to launch into the Guyana market and offer a variety of services.

He flayed the vanquished, defunct administration for preventing state-owned T&T enterprises from laying the groundwork to systematically offer services in emerging oil producers Guyana and Suriname, as a means of earning much-needed foreign exchange and creating  jobs at a time of falling hydrocarbon production.

“Yet in having the decline, there was no concerted attempt to get a footprint into energy producing countries, particularly oil and gas, apart from downstream products, where we could provide help, raise revenue, collect taxes, generate foreign exchange. Money paid to a local company in US dollars can make its way to Trinidad and Tobago and pay taxes and duties and generate employment. “

The minister emphasised the importance of state enterprises establishing themselves in Guyana, Suriname and eventually Grenada as part of a wider plan to become a regional hub for the oil and gas sector.

T&T could have had a “foothold in Guyana a few years ago” but the former administration ditched an attempt by National Energy Corporation to provide operational, technical and production assistance to the Guyana government through the international private sector.

The reason cited was the heavy risk of getting involved in a US$200 million project to bring gas to shore. “They said ‘no’ because it was too risky and National Energy should not participate in Guyana in that way.”

 

 

 

Suriname alliance with T&T

25 June
Dr Vernon Paltoo

ECONOMIC ALLIANCE: President of National Energy Dr Vernon Paltoo with President of Suriname Chan Santokhi and permanent secretary in the Energy Ministry Penelope Bradshaw-Niles

President of National Energy Dr Vernon Paltoo told the Suriname Energy Oil and Gas Summit that Trinidad and Tobago is ready to partner with Suriname and the wider region to forge a collective new dawn in energy. Suriname could benefit from its century-long experience in the energy sector.

“By working together, we will be able to get there faster, more effectively and get the benefits back to our people in a much more efficient and quicker timeframe when we work together as a region.”

He said capacity building, knowledge exchange and clean energy development are essential building blocks to ensuring food and energy security, as well as economic growth for individuals, countries and the region as a whole.

“We can do this on our own as individual countries but by working together, we get there a lot faster. We are here; Trinidad and Tobago stands ready to partner with Suriname as we move together towards a new dawn. While T&T, where we are now, took 130 years—and we expect to have a sustainable diversified green hydrogen economy complemented by fossil fuels by 2025—Suriname can get there in 25 years,” Paltoo said.

He lauded Suriname’s “strong institutions”, such as Staatsolie, for laying the groundwork for this transformation. Oil and gas are expected to continue playing a significant role in shaping the global energy industry for decades to come.

“It will range between 40-60%; but what is more important in absolute terms the actual quantity of natural gas required as we develop the energy sector on a global basis is actually projected to increase, depending on the scenario we use in going forward toward 2050.”

While renewable energy sources are poised to play a key role in the region’s energy transformation, Paltoo said that natural gas would remain crucial. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, GDP across the LAC has grown by 2–3% annually. More impressively, the Caribbean Basin recorded GDP growth of over 10% per year, driven largely by the energy boom in Guyana. Suriname is expected to follow closely, contributing to continued strong economic momentum.

“The fact that our region expects increasing GDP—10% year on year—means that we will need increased power availability more than 10% year on year. Probably as much as 15%; and this was particularly important for Suriname, where we expect that GDP will be growing by far more than 10% per year in the next decade or so.“

This economic trajectory aligns with the emergence of Suriname and Guyana as energy super-producers. Paltoo stressed the importance of investing in human capital.

“I cannot understate the importance of that. Many of you all would have heard me say already that the people are its most valuable resources. It is more important than any natural resource we have, so by investing in our people, we ensure sustainability and continuity of our industry and in essence we are future-proofing our industry by investing in our people.”

 

 

Total Recall to De-risked T&T

June 24, 2025

His triumphant party having de-risked TT, Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal told Parliament that supermajor, TotalEnergies, is considering a return, more than a decade after exiting Trinidad and Tobago. Government is considering a possible deepwater exploration partnership with  the French multinational.

“We also had discussions with TotalEnergies, a French-based company that was in Trinidad some time ago and we are discussing the potential of cooperating with that major global player to return to Trinidad and Tobago and participate in exploration and production, particularly in the deepwater.”

The 2025 deep-water competitive bidding round is ongoing, with the deadline for submissions extended by nearly three months. Bids are now due on September 17, instead of the original July 2 deadline. Launched on January 27, the 2025 round includes 26 blocks available for bidding. Thirteen of the 17 blocks offered in the previous round have returned to the list.

International financial data and analytics provider S&P Global said that Trinidad and Tobago was setting the stage for a new chapter in its offshore exploration with the launch of its 2025 deep-water bid round. The Government aims to unlock untapped hydrocarbon potential in some of the least explored frontier areas.

“With 26 offshore blocks that collectively cover approximately 29,177 sq km, the country’s 2025 deep-water competitive bid round is poised to be the largest auction of oil and gas exploration areas in Trinidad and Tobago’s history. This move signals a strategic effort to attract international investment and revitalise upstream activity in a region that still holds significant promise.”

Unlike many mature basins worldwide, Trinidad and Tobago’s deep-water acreage remains largely underexplored.

Founded in 1924, TotalEnergies is one of the world’s seven supermajor oil companies. On September 30, 2013, it transferred its upstream assets in Trinidad to The National Gas Company in the sale of Total E&P Trinidad BV and Elf Exploration Trinidad BV.

The subsidiaries held 30% working interest in Block 2(c), which includes the producing Angostura field and 8.5% in Block 3(a). The company’s share of production was around 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). The US$473 million transaction, effective January 1, 2012, was approved and closed by the end of September 2013. Then senior vice president for strategy, business development and R&D in exploration and production, Olivier de Langavant, said,

“The sale of these assets is in line with the Group’s active portfolio management strategy. Our desire is to simplify the portfolio by divesting non-strategic assets in countries where the production outlook is marginal to the group.”

Total divested upstream producing assets in Trinidad and Tobago after leaving Cameroon, France and Colombia, as part of its global repositioning. The company entered T&T’s upstream sector in 1996 and production grew from 3,000 boe/d in 2010 to 12,000 boe/d in 2011. After divesting exploration and production, Total continued distribution of oil products through its subsidiary Total R&M T&T Ltd.

Moonilal revealed that the ministry is in discussions with Fulcrum LNG Inc, an American company in Guyana, designing, financing, constructing and operating a project to monetize gas reserves and develop an LNG export facility, in partnership with ExxonMobil.

“We’ve had discussions with them and we will follow up with them.”

National Energy Corporation of T&T Ltd and Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas discussed a potential technical agreement. “We are developing that type of agreement and we expect that that will bring fruition.”

Moonilal said talks continue with the Grenada government on energy matters.

“.. while we know that is not a near-term project, that also has serious consequences for the economic future of T&T, Grenada and the entire region.”

It is no secret that Guyana is engaged in discussions with Trinidad and Tobago.

“We are in touch with the Guyana Energy Chamber. I have been asked to say publicly that the Government has been in touch with the Oil and Gas Energy Chamber in Georgetown that pledged to give their support to companies in T&T to work.”

Lamenting that T&T, despite its footing in the oil and gas sector, missed its chance to establish a strong presence in Guyana and Suriname, even amid declining local production, the Minister claimed,

“Even when there was a serious attempt by National Energy to get involved in Guyana in providing operational, technical and production assistance to the government through the international private sector ExxonMobil and Fulcrum to assist in bringing gas to shore through installation, the government of T&T at that time said ‘No, it is too risky’.”

Trinidad and Tobago cannot compete with Guyana or Suriname on production but can distinguish itself through expertise and education. Private contractors took the lead in entering these markets and secured business opportunities in the regional energy sector.

Moonilal noted T&T participation in the Suriname Energy Oil and Gas Summit and Exhibition, holding talks with state company Staatsolie.

“We are happy to announce that in discussions with Staatsolie, we have made progress on several areas of cooperation between the state oil company of Suriname and the state companies of T&T. They asked us to assist them in locating and verifying financial capabilities of potential partners for gas projects and investigate potential contractual agreements for gas projects.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s role would be to offer expertise in commercial and contractual arrangements to support Suriname’s efforts to develop and market its gas resources.

“Mister Speaker, we are seeing the benefit of this approach where we will now assist Suriname with downstream gas business development.”

T&T will also support Suriname’s liquid natural gas (LNG) expansion programme.

“We will also offer T&T as a hub for marketing their products because the new players have not yet developed downstream capability, marketing capacity or international market reach. This is a cooperation that we are developing now with the infant Surinamese downstream sector.”

T&T will also assist with technical and institutional capacity building to help bring Surinamese gas to shore.

“They are looking at commitments.. at the help of T&T to negotiate with the international companies for bringing gas onshore. They are also looking to import LNG from T&T as an option.”

Suriname is currently sourcing LNG from the Gulf of Mexico at a cost “way in excess of what it will cost to bring LNG from T&T”.

The Energy Minister should approach world champion ExxonMobil to explore the deepwater Atlantic hydrocarbon province of T & T and urge it to participate in the 2025 bid round, following its spectacular success in unlocking reserves in the petroliferous Guyana Basin.

 

 

 

Lost opportunities

June 24, 2025

Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal contends that Trinidad and Tobago could have reaped greater benefits from current conflicts if the last government had not closed Petrotrin refinery. Contributing to the mid-year budget review debate in parliament, Moonilal said he had been closely monitoring developments in the Strait of Hormuz, a 21-mile oil chokepoint separating the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman.

Following US strikes on nuclear sites, Iran approved closure of the Strait, a move expected to cause a dramatic spike in oil prices.

“All night I am monitoring where they are turning around tankers now…that Strait of Homuz transports 20% of the crude of the world,” he said, noting that shipments are primarily destined for India, China, South Korea and Japan.

“Mr Speaker, it is unfortunate that war-like circumstances would give rise to increase in the price of oil. Trinidad and Tobago, like the Russia/Ukraine crisis, stand to benefit. But we could have benefited more had they not presided over a decline in the oil industry.

We would have benefited more had they not shut down the refinery in Pointe-a- Pierre because today we have to import fuel product, the price of which may increase, and then the volume of oil produced is 37% lower than 2015.”

Potential benefits would have been significantly greater had the refinery remained operational. Within days, a new board would be appointed to Heritage Petroleum to do “all and sundry” to return oil production to 2015 levels. Quoting US President Donald Trump, Moonilal said

“Drill, Baby, Drill. In Trinidad and Tobago, we say ‘keep it pumping!’”

Drilling would be incentivised to attract private sector operators. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had committed her government to work towards reopening the refinery. Explaining the technical complexities, he said,

“It is not simply going down there with a cigarette lighter and lighting up the flame.”

A refinery restart committee comprising technical experts was in place with men and women who have 500 years’ experience in the refinery service system. A swift technical assessment of the refinery will be conducted, after which a suitable partner will be engaged through a transparent process to undertake the technical restart. A contractor, Damus, is being paid $400,000 per month for “greasing” the plant.

Revenues on the horizon

Moonilal also spoke of future revenues from the energy sector, referring to a report highlighting more potential gas from the Manatee field. The Government intends to reposition Trinidad and Tobago as the regional energy hub.

MEEI permanent secretary and state board leaders at the Suriname Oil and Gas Summit made progress on cooperation with Staatsolie, Suriname’s state oil company. Staatsolie sought assistance in identifying and vetting potential gas project partners. Suriname is exploring import of LNG from Trinidad and Tobago, which would be more cost-effective than current LNG supply from the Gulf of Mexico.

Trinidad and Tobago will also assist Suriname in building technical and institutional capacity to bring gas to shore.

The Ministry is in talks with TotalEnergies, the French energy company about returning to Trinidad to pursue exploration and production, particularly in deepwater blocks. Discussions were held with US company Fulcrum, developing a Guyana gas project..

The National Energy Corporation and Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas, discussed a technical agreement for development cooperation with the National Gas Company (NGC). Under her previous term as prime minister (2010-15), Kamla Persad-Bissessar had prioritised energy cooperation with Grenada, Guyana and Suriname and he was scheduled to continue discussions on energy collaboration with a Grenadian company.

The minister highlighted a previous Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the People’s Partnership Government with Grenada to participate in its energy exploration programmes.

“While we know that is not a near-term project, that has serious consequences for the economic future of Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and the Caribbean,” he said.

The Ministry is in touch with the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber, which pledged support for Trinidad and Tobago-based companies.

When the UNC left office in 2015, oil production stood at 78,000 barrels per day but in 2025, it fell to 48,000 barrels per day. He attributed the decline in production to the previous regime’s mismanagement. There is potential to undertake “heavy construction” in Trinidad and relocate installations to other Caricom territories.

However, he lamented that the former government objected when the National Energy Corporation tried to offer management expertise in Guyana’s energy sector, citing the move as “too risky”, thereby missing a key opportunity to establish a foothold in that market. Phoenix Park Gas is bidding to help develop a gas processing plant in Guyana and there is hope the effort will succeed.

He stressed that it is critical for the country’s state enterprises to establish themselves as credible investment players in the region.“We have the potential today to become a regional leader, a hub, ” he said.

The Ministry will work with US authorities on a shared approach to benefit from cross-border fields with Venezuela. However, it was the US Government that cancelled two licences for the Coquina-Manakin and Dragon gas fields.

 

 

Ralph Maraj, Trinidad and Tobago envoy to Caricom

24 June

On June 22, former foreign minister Ralph Maraj announced that he is Trinidad and Tobago’s new ambassador to Caricom.

“I have been honoured by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar with the appointment as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of TT to Caricom.. I am very grateful to the honourable Prime Minister for this opportunity to serve our country in this capacity.”

He served as PNM Foreign Minister from 1991-1995, then UNC Foreign Minister from 1995-2000.

“As you know, I have had considerable experience in foreign affairs and with Caricom, and I have been the longest-serving foreign affairs minister in the country…So it is something that I have some significant knowledge about and I look forward to doing it.”

 

 

 

Jamaica:

United Oil & Gas publication of updated presentation

20 Jun 2025

AIM-listed United Oil & Gas, the company with a high-impact exploration asset in Jamaica and a development asset in the UK, announced that an updated technical presentation entitled ‘Evidence for a Petroleum System – Jamaica Licence’ has been published on the Company’s website.

The presentation offers a concise and focused update on the Walton-Morant licence’s prospectivity, showcasing the extensive technical dataset that underpins the farm-out process currently underway.

While it builds on previously shared investor materials, this latest version offers a more geoscience- led perspective, providing added insight into:

1. 1. 1. The extensive technical de-risking undertaken by the Company across the block
      2. Evidence of a working petroleum system based on historical wells and regional analogues
      3. Key features of the Colibri prospect and the multiple surrounding leads & prospects
      4. The value-adding role of forward-looking technical work, including potential piston core surveying

The presentation can be accessed directly via the Company’s website: https://www.uogplc.com/investors/presentations/

Brian Larkin, CEO of United Oil & Gas, commented:

‘We are pleased to share this updated technical summary, which reinforces the Walton-Morant licence’s status as one of the most attractive frontier exploration opportunities in the region. With several parties under NDA, momentum behind the farm-out process remains strong. I encourage all investors to take the opportunity to review the updated presentation and see the potential strength and scale of the opportunity we are advancing.’ Source: United Oil & Gas

 

United Oil & Gas interview on Jamaica licence

05 Jun 2025

AIM-listed United Oil & Gas shared a new investor interview with CEO Brian Larkin. In the wide-ranging conversation, Mr. Larkin outlines the technical and commercial potential of the Jamaica licence, the ongoing farm-out discussions with parties under NDA, and the permit application for the Piston Core Survey.

Key themes discussed include:

• • The importance of recent Walton-Morant licence extension to January 2028 in providing security of tenure
  • How basin-wide prospectivity and onshore seeps support a multi-well campaign
  • Strategy for future cashflow generation and unlocking shareholder value

The full interview is available here:

https://thatstocksguy.substack.com/p/united-oil-and-gas?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

Source: United Oil & Gas

 

Suriname: SBM Offshore signs contract with TotalEnergies

20 June 2025

SBM Offshore signed an operations and maintenance contract with TotalEnergies EP Suriname, an affiliate of TotalEnergies, for the FPSO GranMorgu, as part of the field development project located in Block 58 in Suriname.

The contract covers the operation readiness phase before first oil as well as the operations and maintenance services for a minimal period of two years after first oil with extension options.

This contract reinforces SBM Offshore’s long-term strategic partnership with TotalEnergies and marks a significant milestone as SBM Offshore becomes the first FPSO operator in Suriname. It is a testimony to SBM Offshore’s focus on excellence throughout the entire project’s lifecycle, from the allocation of our eighth Fast4Ward® MPF hull to our extensive experience in asset management supporting TotalEnergies’ operations.

Source: SBM Offshore

 

SBM Offshore becomes first FPSO operator in Suriname

June 19, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Netherlands-based SBM Offshore, a provider of the design, construction, installation and operation of offshore floating facilities, inked an operations and maintenance (O&M) contract with TotalEnergies EP Suriname, a subsidiary of France’s energy giant TotalEnergies, for a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel destined to work off the coast of Suriname.

Weeks after the first steel was cut in PRC to mark the start of the construction phase for the FPSO GranMorgu, SBM Offshore disclosed the signing of the operations and maintenance deal with TotalEnergies for the unit, as part of the field development project located in Block 58 in Suriname.The operations and maintenance contract covers the operation readiness phase before first oil as well as the operations and maintenance services for a minimal period of two years after first oil, with extension options.

The Dutch player highlighted: “This contract reinforces SBM Offshore’s long-term strategic partnership with TotalEnergies and marks a significant milestone as SBM Offshore becomes the first FPSO operator in Suriname. It is a testimony to SBM Offshore’s focus on excellence throughout the entire project’s lifecycle, from the allocation of our eighth Fast4Ward MPF hull to our extensive experience in asset management supporting TotalEnergies’ operations.”

SBM Offshore and Technip Energies were hired for work related to the FPSO following a final investment decision (FID) for the 12.2-billion GranMorgu oilfield in Block 58, located 150 kilometers offshore Suriname.

Operated by TotalEnergies with APA Corporation and Suriname national oil company (NOC), Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname (Staatsolie), as its partners, the project is designed to develop resources on Block 58 within the Sapakara and Krabdagu fields. With a capacity of 220,000 barrels per day, the FPSO will entail an all-electric drive, zero routine flaring, and gas reinjection. This oil project is expected to have a scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity of less than 16 kg CO2e/boe. Multiple players won assignments on this oil development, including ADC Energy, TechnipFMC and Saipem.

 

 

TotalEnergies Suriname consortium targets double exploration drive

Fabio Palmigiani
Rio de Janeiro

Published 30 May 2025, 12:22

French supermajor TotalEnergies is preparing new exploration offshore Suriname, targeting two shallow-water blocks adjacent to its $12.2 billion GranMorgu development. TotalEnergies, in partnership with Suriname state-owned Staatsolie and QatarEnergy, acquired in June 2021 production sharing contracts for blocks 6 and 8.

The consortium is moving forward with exploration work and plans to conduct a geophysical survey data acquisition programme in both blocks in water depths ranging from 30 to 80 metres.

The French company also on the verge of drilling Macaw-1 prospect in Block 64.

 

 

 

Petronas contract with Suriname expands deepwater portfolio

June 18, 2025

Petronas signed a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for deepwater Block 66, offshore Suriname.

The PSC includes a firm commitment to drill two exploration wells, targeting drill-ready prospects that offer significant resource potential and are strategically positioned to unlock synergies with Petronas’ existing operations in Suriname.

Under terms of the contract, Petronas holds the operatorship with 80% participating interest, while Staatsolie holds the remaining 20%.

Spanning approximately 3,390 km2, Block 66 lies directly adjacent to Block 52 in the deepwater region offshore Suriname, where Petronas has recorded a series of exploration and appraisal successes. Building on this strong foundation, Petronas is optimistic that the positive momentum and learnings from Block 52 will carry over into Block 66 as it continues to explore and unlock the hydrocarbon potential of the area.

Mohd Redhani Abdul Rahman, Petronas’ VP of International Assets Upstream, said,

“This acquisition marks a pivotal step in PETRONAS’ expansion into the prolific Suriname-Guyana hydrocarbon basin, aligning with our strategy to unlock high-value, high-potential assets and deliver long-term value through global partnerships and deepwater innovation. With its prime location and significant resource potential, Block 66 complements PETRONAS’ existing deepwater portfolio. We look forward to advancing our partnership with Staatsolie to unlock new energy opportunities together.”

The agreement also reflects PETRONAS’ commitment to responsible energy development, with built-in provisions supporting domestic workforce participation and social investment in a sustainable way—ensuring alignment with Suriname’s national development goals.  This latest addition brings PETRONAS’ offshore interest in Suriname to six blocks, strengthening its position in the country following four discoveries to date.

 

 

 

Petronas extends Suriname footprint and picks Halliburton’s solutions

June 20, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

Malaysian state-owned Petronas inked two deals: one to acquire operatorship of a deepwater exploration block offshore Suriname and the other to deploy technology aimed at advancing subsurface modeling and reservoir management exploration across its assets.

Petronas’ Suriname-based affiliate signed a production sharing contract (PSC) with Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Paradise Oil Company (POC), for Block 66, located in the deepwater region off Suriname. Petronas will be the block’s operator with an 80% participating interest, while POC will hold the remaining 20%.

The PSC includes a firm commitment to drill two exploration wells during the first phase of the exploration period, targeting drill-ready prospects that the operator believes offer “significant” resource potential.The latest addition brings Petronas’ offshore interest in Suriname to six blocks: 48, 52, 53, 63, 64, and now 66, with four oil and gas discoveries made to date, while discoveries in Block 52 are undergoing evaluation.

The latest asset is situated directly next to Block 52, where Petronas recorded a series of exploration and appraisal successes. It is optimistic that the momentum and learnings from Block 52 will carry over into Block 66 as it continues to explore and unlock the hydrocarbon potential of the area.

Wison New Energies (WNE) recently won a detailed feasibility study (DFS) for a newbuild floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility set to work at Block 52. The block’s operator and sole owner is Petronas, since its former partner, ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Suriname, decided to exit the block in late 2024.

Spanning approximately 3,390 square kilometers in size, Block 66 is located in the western part of the Suriname-Guyana Basin, with water depths ranging from 1,000 to 2,200 meters. It borders Block 52 to the south and Block 58 and Block 53 to the west.

According to Staatsolie, signing of the PSC brings the percentage of Suriname’s offshore under contract to around 50%. This aligns with the firm’s strategy to develop Suriname’s oil and gas potential with international partners.

Petronas’ Vice President of International Assets of Upstream, Mohd Redhani, said: “This acquisition marks a pivotal step in PETRONAS’ expansion into the prolific Suriname-Guyana hydrocarbon basin, aligning with our strategy to unlock high-value, high-potential assets and deliver long-term value through global partnerships and deepwater innovation. With its prime location and significant resource potential, Block 66 complements PETRONAS’ existing deepwater portfolio.”

This follows a range of deals Petronas entered into lately, including a PSC extension with ENEOS, a new PSC with Idemitsu Kosan and LNG deals with Woodside and Commonwealth LNG.

Halliburton collaboration
Halliburton entered into a strategic collaboration with Petronas for the latter to deploy two solutions developed by its Landmark unit: Geosciences Suite and Unified Ensemble Modeling.

As these are aimed at advancing subsurface modeling and reservoir management exploration, the U.S. player claims the time to first oil will be reduced, which is expected to accelerate hydrocarbon monetization. The deal follows a comprehensive benchmarking of Petronas’ greenfield and mature reservoir practices. The new approach will incorporate multi-scenario probabilistic modeling, supported by AI and machine learning, envisioned to drive greater efficiency and insight.

“We transform subsurface modeling through proven differentiated technologies to solve unique challenges. When we unite exploration and development teams, we help our customers generate returns faster and maximize asset value,” said Tony Antoun, Senior Vice President, Landmark Software and Services.

The solutions’ scalable earth modeling and ensemble workflows represent an upgrade from traditional grid-based modeling and deterministic reservoir forecasting. As explained, these technologies are intended to enable Petronas Carigali exploration and asset teams to collaborate in real time using a unified live earth model, to achieve more accurate reserve estimations through ensemble modeling.

The Geosciences Suite combines innovative technology and tightly integrated cross-domain workflows to help increase subsurface understanding and provide valuable insights to help maximize asset value. Its dynamic end-to-end workflows help characterize the subsurface and reduce the uncertainty of complex environments to help ensure confident well placement.

With the Unified Ensemble Modeling solution, teams can automate the creation of multiple geological scenarios based on probabilities and real-time reservoir data. This is said to improve forecast accuracy, speed up analysis, and increase confidence in decision-making.

“A harmonized, AI assisted workflow anchored on a single live-earth model across the exploration and development phases is central to our strategy in achieving our ambitious project delivery targets,” said Hazli Sham Kassim, Senior Vice President of Malaysia Asset and CEO of Petronas Carigali.

Earlier this month, Halliburton’s solutions were picked by Repsol Resources UK, a subsidiary of Spain’s Repsol. The U.S. player will provide subsurface technology, drilling and completion services, as well as digital solutions for oil and gas assets in the UK sector of the North Sea.

 

 

 

Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference

June 2-4

What it takes to go green – stakeholders look to energy transition
It is not easy going green, but someone has to do it. For this region, seeking to transition to renewable “green” energy means compliance to trade conditions that would have us manage resources that other countries were able to exploit without regulation, sharing responsibility for climate change, irrespective of the region’s miniscule contribution to the world’s carbon footprint,sharing the workload to reverse the effects of climate change, despite the fact that the region is the most vulnerable to its effects.

Nuances of the Caribbean position on climate change and energy transition emerged during a session including founding chairman of the Caribbean Energy Chamber Melanie Chen, IDB managing director of the Caribbean Darryl White and Republic Bank group sustainability officer Tisha Marajh, with Dr Thackwray “Dax” Driver as moderator.

Panellists touched on the fact that not only will emission-reducing strategies such as energy-efficient practices increasing the use of renewable energy be beneficial to reduce the environmental impact of climate change but could have positive economic effects. On the other hand it was highlighted that, with the globe shifting toward energy-efficient taxation modules such as the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), not engaging in energy efficiency could have a negative environmental and commercial impact on the region.

Risk and reward

Responding to the audience, the panel agreed that not doing what it can to transition to cleaner energy and reduce its emissions through energy efficiency could go beyond the environmental impact in the future, to an economic impact now.

CHEN: In tourism some platforms monitor and rate hotels on measures they take in energy efficiency.

“If they couldn’t disrupt or were not up to speed on it, they would not be able to get on some platforms. So it has a direct commercial impact…to be energy efficient.. is now a commercial reality.”

Initiatives such as the European Union CBAM – would also increase the renewable energy used in regional manufacturing.

“They did that not to penalise the rest of the world but because they have a much higher percentage of renewable energy in the energy matrix. For the rest of the world to export to the EU, they will have to have the same conditions that the EU manufacturers have.”

While the European CBAM will come into effect in January 2026, the UK CBAM, with different ratings and compliance mechanisms, will be implemented in 2027. USA and others with intentions to implement their own CBAM-like policies, have been put on pause amid the Trump “drill baby drill” agenda.

Energy efficiency makes economic sense as low-hanging fruit with a positive impact on regional emissions and finances. The Caribbean hotel energy efficiency action programme (CHENACT) proves that modest refitting such as energy-efficient lighting can yield 20-30 per cent savings.

“In some cases facilities could save up to US$1 million annually while the sector’s total emissions reduction potential exceeds 835,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.”

Energy efficiency is a deciding factor in selecting hotels for environmentally-conscious guests. In TT, as commercial and residential electricity rose by 28 per cent since 2013, energy efficiency can reduce the burden of energy demand and enhance grid resilience.

“It will reduce natural gas consumption which could be used in the downstream sector for export and gain more foreign currency income.”

Preeya Mohan, senior fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies said non-compliance with CBAM could affect the way TT interacts with foreign markets for trade.

“As exporters, we want to get into the EU market, we need to comply with their CBAM regulation. If we do not comply, they will not accept our exports.”

In studies on the impact of the EU CBAM, 30 per cent of TT exports to the EU will be affected by the CBAM tax regime, which could equate to about 13.5 per cent of the country’s GDP. The product scope is expected to expand to all products under the EU emissions trading system (ETS).

“If that happens it means 69 per cent of our exports will be affected by these taxes.”

About 14 per cent of TT exports go to the EU.

CBAM will increase cost of imports as a tax will have to be paid on exports into the region, based on its carbon content.

“If exporters are not able to provide information, they will be charged a default tax value, the average tax value of carbon content for that product across the globe, calculated by the EU. It’s in the interest of exporters to measure their emissions and calculate that tax value so that it’s the lowest possible value.”

People ought not to consider CBAM and its regulations as a risk or a threat but as an opportunity to take responsibility for the region’s climate future.

“We want a healthy environment, we want to reduce emissions so that we can breathe better air and we’re not impacted by climate disasters. We say we want these things, but nothing happens. CBAM now comes as an external force literally forcing us to make the adjustments. The CBAM provides that impetus for us to monitor and report the emissions and then to reduce the emissions.”

Responsibility and culture significantly affects energy efficiency.

WHITE: showed the disproportionate impact of climate change on SIDS compared to other regions.

Stakeholders may only be aware of the disproportionate effect in retrospect, after a disaster.

With regard to regulatory costs and the cost of fuel, the government usually absorbs the impact.

Mia Mottley and the Dominican leader said our carbon footprint is miniscule but we get the full brunt of it all. The interesting thing is the key stakeholders are us, but the key polluters do not come from the region.

DRIVER: That “doesn’t negate the fact that we need to transition. That communicates an argument in investing in resilience.”

CHEN: While the region represents a small percentage of emissions, it is not perfect.

“If we look at carbon emissions for hotel rooms, tourism is actually the second worst in the world. We need to understand that we are small and do not produce as much carbon as China but on certain measures we are not as great as we think we are.”

The EU and IDB recommendations to the tourism industry over ten years ago were poorly implemented while many islands have the highest electricity rates at about 30-40 cents per kilowatt/hour.

While large companies like Yara, Ansa and Phoenix Park Gas Processors Ltd (PPGPL) do their part, people can play an immediate role in reducing the carbon footprint and GHG emissions at no real cost.

“It’s a low burden but high impact strategy. People don’t need air conditioning at 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees celsius). Turning off lights in the house during the day; turning off the fan when you leave for work. You just need to be judicious about energy usage.”

Founding chamber president and CEO Eugene Tiah said a change in behaviour could reduce energy demand in TT by 10 per cent.

“Currently 260 cubic feet of gas per day is used for electrical power production. If we save 10 per cent of that it would be equivalent to 26 million standard cubic feet per day. A typical ammonia plant, a full ammonia plant, uses about 45 to 50 million standard cubic feet per day, so you could have enough gas for another half of an ammonia plant. So it’s significant.”

The region adopted an attitude which suggests it is not responsible for climate change.

“We have it in TT because of low energy prices, but across the Caribbean the mindset is we are the victims. It is the developed world that created this problem. Well no. It is also our problem.”

Unfortunately, the elephant in the room is the growing world population, doubling to over 2.5 billion in AU where Sahara solar power can electrify the entire continent, abounding in natural resources, free from hurricanes, volcanoes and earthquakes.

 

 

 

 

Wayward winds of change and energy

5 Jun 2025

Whirling winds may turn to favour the region as breezes ensure an energy future. Experts told the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference on June 3, that the feasibility of wind power in the region is an immediate and pressing opportunity.

From regional wind maps to real-time measurement technology, and from Europe’s offshore wind economy to T&T hydrogen ambitions, industry professionals presented a comprehensive case for the role of wind in reshaping the energy landscape.

The major takeaway was candid and optimistic: economics has caught up with aspiration. Sheena Gosine, energy international relations and affairs adviser to the Energy Minister and vice-chair of the Wind Energy Steering Committee, said the Caribbean Basin benefits from its location. The North Atlantic subtropical high regulates the consistent northeast trade winds , moving from the east to the northeast.

Wind power deployment is gaining momentum. Jamaica has over 40 MW of wind capacity while the Dominican Republic leads the region with over 200 MW. Barbados embarked on a public-private partnership for a 50-megawatt wind farm – the largest in the Eastern archipelago to date.

Geotechnical studies for the site have been completed. T&T onshore wind development has begun in earnest, while offshore possibilities are being assessed concurrently.

Geographic position allows for average wind speeds of six to nine metres per second, making the region ideally suited for offshore wind energy. A regional offshore wind strategy developed by C3, supported by the European Union, ranked Jamaica and T&T the top two territories for offshore wind development, scoring them out of 85 based on resource availability, infrastructure, spatial planning and market integration.

Jamaica led by one point with their higher renewable energy integration. By the end of this year, T&T is likely to lead with its Solar Project.

Economics: The deciding factor

While policymakers cite environmental concerns and climate goals as drivers for renewable energy, Augusto Bonzi, energy specialist with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), was unequivocal about what is truly moving the market.

“This transition is really being driven by economics. Decarbonisation matters, but most of this is fundamentally driven by cost competitiveness.”

Bonzi presented figures from the latest Lazard levelized cost of energy (LCOE) report, which placed the global average cost for onshore wind between US$27 and US$73 per megawatt-hour – consistently cheaper than fossil fuel options like combined cycle gas plants. Offshore wind costs, while higher, are steadily declining.

“It’s not surprising that project after project is following this trend.”

Referencing a 13-year trend from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Bonzi demonstrated how both onshore and offshore wind show remarkable cost reductions, falling well below fossil fuel generation costs globally. The IDB assessment positioned T&T to become a regional green hydrogen economy leader – provided that large-scale renewable energy projects, especially offshore wind, are deployed.

“You have the infrastructure, … international trade, shipping, the port. So it’s really about taking it to the next level.”

Measuring wind

On the technical front, Kevin Atwaroo, power systems engineer at National Energy Corporation of TT, described the ongoing wind resource assessment programme.

“Our assessments classify T&T wind potential into two categories: approximately 2.8 gigawatts of onshore capacity and 32 gigawatts offshore.”

To quantify these figures, National Energy deployed light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology – a mobile, laser-based device capable of measuring wind speeds up to 300 metres above ground.

“We are sampling data from one-second to ten-minute intervals, remotely accessed through a cloud platform.”

Devices powered by off-grid solar panels and battery backup are collecting 12 to 18 months of continuous wind data at two pilot sites: Galeota and Waterloo. The first two resource assessment plans are scheduled for completion by Q3 to Q4 of 2026, with two more starting in mid-2025 at Fishing Pond on the northeast coast and Los Iros in the south.

“Anyone will tell you: empirical data, measured data equals better planning and faster deployment.”

The validated data will inform turbine layout, technical feasibility and bankable energy production estimates for future wind projects.

Ports, human capital and opportunity

Wind energy development must be supported by port infrastructure, in which T&T already excels and has the potential to become the logistical hub for regional wind energy deployment.

The Port of Galeota and Point Lisas Industrial Estate were identified as critical assets for assembling, launching and integrating wind turbine structures, much like European ports that serve as hubs for offshore wind in the North Sea.

Gosine said existing industrial capabilities could be repurposed for offshore wind.
“ TOFCO (Trinidad Offshore Fabrication Company) manufactures jackets and possesses the technical capabilities and workforce to support offshore wind — transferable skills already in place.”

Human capital is another decisive advantage. The local energy workforce shrank from 23,000 in 2013 to just over 8,000 today. A cadre of experienced personnel is available to staff a future offshore wind sector.

Regional and Global Examples

Bonzi described successful examples in Latin America and the Caribbean archipelago. He cited Uruguay’s rapid transition to 98 per cent renewable energy in just 15 years – with wind accounting for 40 per cent – and its ongoing export of clean electricity to Brazil.

In Central America, the 1,800-kilometre SIEPAC electricity line interconnects seven countries, balancing fossil and renewable sources across a regional grid. Suriname recently completed its wind resource assessment and Barbados announced a request for proposals last week for a 60-megawatt wind farm.

“These aren’t distant aspirations. They’re happening now.”

The IDB supported Chile’s green hydrogen roadmap, leading to private sector bidding for 5,000 megawatts of wind power within three years.

The outlook: feasible and necessary

Conference discussions confirmed that for T&T, wind energy is no longer an experimental concept.

The financial case is sound, the resources exist and the supporting infrastructure and industrial capabilities are ready to be mobilised.

Bonzi said, “The opportunities are here. Every country must chart its own path based on its resources and circumstances – but the regional and global trends are clear.”

With capital costs declining, storage solutions advancing and demand for green energy products rising, the window opened for T&T to take the leadership role in the regional renewable energy transition.

For decarbonisation goals, economic diversification, or future-proofing its petrochemical sector, wind power offers a feasible, competitive and increasingly necessary solution.

Gosine said, “We are not starting from scratch. We are starting from experience.”

Trade winds cycle
30 degrees north and 30 degrees south of the equator, Earth’s rotation causes air to slant toward the equator in a southwesterly direction in the northern hemisphere and in a northwesterly direction in the southern hemisphere.

This Coriolis Effect, in combination with high pressure, causes prevailing trade winds to move from east to west on both sides of the equator across this 60-degree belt, in the Horse Latitudes. 5 degrees north and south of the Equator, calm air and ocean currents mark the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, a 10-degree band of hot, dry air, around Earth’s midsection.

In the Doldrums intense solar heat warms and moistens the winds, thrusting air upwards. It cools, causing persistent bands of showers and storms. Rising air moves toward the poles, sinks near the horse latitudes and triggers trade winds, completing the cycle.

 

 

 

 

 

Caribbean Basin committed to clean energy

June 2

Mala Baliraj, chair of T&T Energy Chamber told its Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference 2025 the region has a strong interest in developing clean energies despite major shifts in the global landscape by larger countries in their focus on sustainable energy.

Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, Dominica, Jamaica and T&T were aggressively pursuing renewable energy initiatives.

Barbados set ambitious targets for renewables outlined in the Barbados National Energy Policy document to achieve the 100 per cent renewable energy and carbon-neutral island-state transformational goals by 2030. Guyana was maintaining its seven central themes in its Green State Development Strategy, even as it ramps up oil production.

Grenada’s National Sustainable Development Plan is the anchor for their development agenda and priorities.

Dominica was taking a lead in geothermal energy while Jamaica was a forerunner with wind, solar and the shift to natural gas for power generation.

T&T had its first grid-scale solar project, the biggest in the region which was due to come online later this year. That is in addition to significant ongoing efforts for the introduction of low-carbon hydrogen, carbon capture, low-carbon marine fuels and methane reduction activities.

Despite those efforts, shortcomings needed to be addressed.

“While there is clearly progress across the region and tremendous opportunities exist, the reality is that actual implementation lags behind ambition. Given the global shifts identified, it is important to take a hard and honest look at where we are and what we need to do to close that gap.”

Discussions on sustainable energy in the region tended to focus mainly on electricity and investments in renewable energy. They also needed to focus on the “hard to abate sectors” which are considered challenging to decarbonise given the complexity and reliance on fossil fuels such as the transportation industry.She hoped for meaningful progress and discussions among industry leaders and experts  over the conference which runs from June 2 to 4.

 

 

 

Barbados seeks Regional approaches to renewable projects

2025, 06/04

Barbados Minister of Energy, Lisa Cummins virtually told the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference that modernisation of electricity grids and joint investment is a part of the conversation that countries should be having to move from fossil fuel pasts to renewable energy futures.

The question should be whether the various country grids have the ability and capacity to reach the renewable energy targets in the timeframe set. That becomes an issue of security. In 2024, Barbados spent close to US$1 billion, in fossil fuel imports and the previous year, the island spent US$924 million in fossil fuel imports. That resulted in foreign exchange drain but it was money spent that could be used for other purposes.

“Energy security then becomes how do we convert the resources, whether the sun, wind, onshore, offshore, geothermal, into energy sources to power homes and commercial plants sustainably ? That becomes a question of energy security, transitioning from fossils to renewables.”

Barbados has been having this conversation about types of technology financing mechanisms from development finance institutions (DFI) or commercial banks. Both methods of financing are available in Barbados, but the bankability of projects is key to the conversation.

“But I want to raise with you the importance of energy integration, pooled collaboration across the region, and how it benefits not just our energy transition targets, but our consuming public in the region.”

Populations are not interested in whether the projects are bankable. They want answers to the most common questions, “Is this going to make electricity more affordable and is the consumer going to have to choose between electricity and other bills.

“As we have this conversation around financing and security and changing foreign exchange into domestic capacity and using renewables, we have to keep the consumer and the ability to subsidise investment costs at the forefront of our conversation.

“That too is a part of energy security, because that is national security, social security and people-centred security. And that’s one of the conversations I want to introduce when we’re speaking with investors.”

This month Barbados will market its first competitive procurement for battery energy storage systems and the government is going to the market with a request for prequalification for its first onshore major wind project.

“We have to be able to address the opportunities that exist for Barbados to do this. Jamaica went to the market earlier this year and they’re going to the market again in August for projects.”

The second element was pooling investment of regional countries in renewable energy projects together.

“With support of the International Financial Corporation and the Caricom Secretariat, we just looked at all the renewable energy potential projects that exist across the region, geothermal, hydro, as in Guyana and Suriname, excess photovoltaic capacity, onshore wind, offshore wind, floating and fixed. What are the opportunities for us across the region to invest in renewable energy projects jointly? Many moons ago, we talked about shared investment capacity.”

The current juncture presents an opportunity for the region to have joint projects and investments in the renewable energy space.

“And these taken together, balancing the revisions of the existing, in Barbados, renewable energy feed-in tariffs, to to ensure it has the capacity for joint procurement in Barbados using competitive means, which is what the country is doing now and the next phase is competitive procurement.”

Full procurement across the region would mean working with development partners to have grants and subsidies to support the bottom line, investing in more bankable projects, but keeping the consumer and the people of the region at the forefront of government conversations.

“The Barbados government in March, when we hosted the Sustainable Energy Forum, launched an energy transition investment plan.

“We mapped the costs associated with investing in Barbados’ renewable energy sector through 2035. I’d like to be able to see, potentially, together with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and all the other development partners, how we can quantify what the investment cost would be across the region, and look at abatement technology sector by sector, so there is an articulated programme.”

 

 

 

UWI launches Renewable Energy Lab for Rural Farmers

Technology has become a vital resource across nearly every sector, from large-scale manufacturing to ordering food with the tap of a finger. Now, farmers in Trinidad and Tobago will benefit directly from these advances, as the Association of Energy Engineers (TTAEE) and The University of the West Indies officially launched their new Renewable Energy Systems Lab (RESL).

The launch, held June 14 at The UWI St Augustine Campus within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, unveiled a two-kilowatt (2kW) solar energy training system. Designed to support hands-on learning and sustainable development, the RESL is a key part of a broader initiative to bring renewable energy training and equipment directly to underserved rural communities.

The Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ASTT) and UWI students are among the primary participants. TTAEE business development director, Thomas Jackson, said the lab is just the beginning. As part of the project’s long-term strategy, four standalone solar systems will be installed in rural communities, one per year over the next four years. These installations aim to provide clean energy to farming communities while offering real-world learning opportunities for students.

“For each of the next four cohorts of students—the next four years —the students will select the rural community to reach out to, educate the farmers on how to use the equipment, install the equipment, and maintain it.”

The training centre also features advanced systems that enable students to work with real-time data and complex configurations. United Nations hydrogen specialist consultant Richard Ramrattan demonstrated a six-kilowatt (6kW) hybrid solar power system.

The system includes 265-watt solar panels, charge controllers, and an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) that switches between generator and utility power. The system allows students to interact with three types of batteries for testing and optimisation. Additional components include a DC combiner box, booster, and inverter to manage both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) outputs.

“Live data is displayed for analysis, allowing students to design and simulate various configurations, evaluate performance, and gain valuable hands-on experience.”

The system mimics the behaviour of mini-grid environments, small decentralised electricity networks, helping students understand real-world stability issues and technical challenges.

Head of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at UWI, Dr Arvind Singh, highlighted the lab’s academic significance and its practical impact on the community.

“We’re looking at how we can offer renewable energy to the grid. When renewable energy is connected to the grid, there’s a big difference between a large generator and an inverter—it changes how the system operates and presents new kinds of challenges,.” While the department focuses on solving such technical problems, the project also reflects a commitment to grassroots transformation.

“This is where this project really matters. We’re working with organisations like Kilowatts for Humanity, which aim to use renewable energy to enable economic transformation in some of the most underserved communities worldwide.”

Among the first students to benefit from the RESL was Varun Jagnath, who described his experience as both challenging and rewarding.

“This was a very fun and creative experience. We were tasked with exploring solar power and accessing solar energy. I visited the solar farm and held two class sessions with rural farmers to explain how they can use the system to improve productivity and efficiency.”

Reflecting on the learning curve, “I wouldn’t have imagined how much engineering goes into installing a solar panel system. From determining component compatibility to the calculations needed for each part, even the installation process itself is complex. That’s why we developed a website to help users understand the system before making a purchase. It will help them install the components correctly and get the best performance.”

The RESL is part of a broader partnership between TTAEE, The UWI, the Digicel Foundation and Shell T&T, funded to promote sustainable energy in agriculture. In an earlier interview with Express Business in January, Jackson noted that the project will benefit ten ASTT-affiliated farmers and ten UWI students annually.

Over three years, that will total 60 beneficiaries, each gaining tools and knowledge to support a cleaner, more sustainable energy future. Minister of Tertiary Education Dr Prakash Persad interacted with the solar energy system at the Renewable Energy Systems Lab at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine on June 14.

 

 

Surging shipping demand amid looming biofuel supply crunch

June 2, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

The maritime transportation industry’s ambition of net-zero carbon emissions ballooned demand for biofuels. However, the capacity to produce these sustainable fuels is not keeping pace, with “unconstrained” biodiesel demand exceeding total supply.

According to Norway’s energy research and business intelligence company Rystad Energy, biofuels, which are compatible with existing ship engines and can, therefore, be adopted ‘with relative ease’, the capacity to provide biofuels like biodiesel and bio-liquefied natural gas (bio-LNG) and the overall outlook for bio-LNG are restricted in both allocation and production.

With emerging technologies and tightening regulations, shipping faces unprecedented pressure to innovate and make strategic investments. Biofuels could represent a more cost-effective solution compared to conventional marine fuels (like very low-sulfur fuel oil, or VLSFO), especially when aligned with the low-emission thresholds established by the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Greenhouse Gas Fuel Intensity (GFI) standard.

While blending biofuels at 30% or 50% can help meet emission targets in the short term, fully switching to 100% low-emission versions offers the biggest long-term savings and rewards. Notably, bio-LNG stands out as a cheaper option than biodiesel, particularly when supported by government subsidies.

In a scenario where there are no supply constraints, Rystad Energy spotlighted that global demand for biodiesel in shipping could go well past a 140 million tonnes of fuel oil mark by 2028.

Even under ‘perfect’ conditions, total biofuel production capacity is not projected to peak over around 120 million tonnes, which could drop sharply to just 40 million tonnes when sustainability criteria—prioritizing cleaner, second-generation biofuels—are applied.

When production risks, actual output levels and competition from other sectors are taken into account, the volume of biofuels realistically available for the maritime transportation industry dwindles even further, the company’s report has stressed.

Junlin Yu, Shipping, Rystad Energy, said, “The situation with bio-LNG is also constrained, with challenges for both production and allocation capacity. While projected demand is relatively modest at 16 million tonnes in fuel oil equivalent by 2028, the apparent surplus in supply is misleading. Over 84% of global biomethane is already committed to electricity generation, with an additional 10% allocated to road transport. This leaves only 6% available for all other sectors, including maritime, making actual access far more limited than the numbers suggest,”

The company’s report stressed that this supply crunch cannot be overlooked. Even though future-facing fuels like ammonia and methanol are believed to offer ‘long-term’ promise, they carry a hefty price tag as well as infrastructure challenges that left shipowners hesitant and waiting for clearer market signals.

Biofuels may be a more practical road to net zero, but without careful planning and proactive steps, the bridge to compliance could nevertheless crumble.

 

 

 

Sustainable energy forum

At the Sustainable Energy for All Global Forum on March 12-13, the first day concluded with a Shark Tank-style pitch session. The challenge featured three innovative entrepreneurs presenting solutions to pressing issues related to energy access and sustainability to a panel of experienced clean energy investors.

Dr Legena Henry, a lecturer at UWI Barbados, showcased her pioneering project on developing biofuel from sargassum seaweed and emerged as the winner .

In addition to the live event, SEforALL will feature the Shark Tank pitches from the forum on its podcast, Let’s Talk About Energy, highlighting the bold leaders and innovative thinkers driving the global clean energy revolution.

Episode 13, “Enter The Shark Tank,” launched on Friday, May 23.

The episode will spotlight the inspiring ideas of these exceptional clean energy entrepreneurs and demonstrate their impact on global energy challenges, a June 2 UWI release said.

Henry highlighted the growing crisis of sargassum seaweed affecting coastlines globally, particularly in the Caribbean archipelago, and its disruptive impact on tourism and marine life. She also discussed the challenge of 1 million litres of rum distillery wastewater produced daily in Barbados. Her solution repurposes this waste by utilising anaerobic digestion to create a biofuel that could power electric taxis and other vehicles.

This innovative approach aims to reduce carbon emissions and enhance local agriculture and aligns with renewable energy policies, potentially strengthening the resilience of the tourism sector.

Of the three presentations, Henry’s initiative was selected unanimously based on its feasibility, scalability, sustainability and broader applicability, as well as the strength and accomplishments of her team. Her prize includes a mentorship opportunity offered by Lightrock, a global sustainable investment platform operating across private and public markets.

Henry said, “The mentorship from Lightrock will be helpful in our scale-up efforts as we are currently in discussions with a few serious potential funders on this phase of our development.”

Episode 13 of SEforALL’s podcast, “Let’s Talk About Energy,” was recorded at the SEforALL Global Energy Forum 2025. It can be accessed via YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music.

 

 

 

MONTEGO BAY TO HOST LANDMARK CARIBBEAN INVESTMENT FORUM

July 29–31, 2025

Montego Bay will host a transformative event that seeks to reintroduce the region to the world as a credible and competitive investment destination, long defined by its postcard-perfect beaches, vibrant culture and warm hospitality,

The Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF) 2025, officially launched this month in Kingston, is being positioned as the region’s premier platform for connecting international capital with high-potential, investment-ready opportunities across the Caribbean. The Forum is scheduled to take place in Montego Bay from 2025, under the theme “SMART. GREEN. CONNECTED.”

Driving technological transformation
Thursday 29 May 2025

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IMF Executive Board Concludes 2025 Article IV Consultation with Dominica

June 11, 2025

Summary

1. 1. 1. Dominica’s economic outlook is positive, predicated on the implementation of the country’s economic modernization and development agenda, but risks weigh on the downside.
      2. Fiscal and external imbalances are expected to narrow gradually, but more ambitious consolidation is needed to bring debt below the prudential currency union benchmark, mitigate disaster risks, and support resilient growth.
      3. Structural reforms are critical to fostering resilient and sustainable growth. Priorities include policies to alleviate impediments to financial intermediation, labor market performance, and innovation and allocative efficiency.

Washington, DC: On June 10, 2025, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation[1] with Dominica and endorsed the staff appraisal without a meeting on a lapse-of-time basis. The authorities have consented to the publication of the Staff Report prepared for this consultation.[2]

1. Dominica’s economy has continued its expansion. Real GDP grew by 3.5 percent in 2024, supported by a recovery in tourism and targeted development investment to boost economic capacity and competitiveness. Inflation has eased from its 2023 peak of 7 percent, averaging 3.1 percent in 2024. Tourism arrivals have surpassed pre-pandemic levels by roughly 32 percent, but the composition has shifted towards cruise visitors over stayovers. The labor market recovery remains uneven, with formal employment lagging behind overall growth.
2. Fiscal and external imbalances have narrowed but remain large. The primary balance improved by 2¼ percentage points (ppts) to a deficit of 2 percent of GDP in FY2023/24, reflecting dclines in primary current spending that more than offset moderately lower revenues. Public debt has steadily declined from its pandemic peak but remains elevated at 100 percent of GDP. The current account deficit narrowed by 2 ppts to 32¼ percent of GDP in 2024, reflecting higher tourism receipts.
3. The financial system is liquid with a mixed credit picture and balance sheet fragilities that require monitoring. Bank credit has declined further since 2023 reflecting ongoing de-risking amid persistent balance sheet challenges, notably elevated non-performing loans (NPLs) and still fragile provisioning. Meanwhile, the credit union (CU) sector is expanding its lending portfolio rapidly, despite weak capitalization, high NPLs, and limited provisioning. Modernizing the supervisory framework governing these institutions is a priority to safeguard financial sector stability given their growing systemic importance.
4. Dominica’s economic outlook is positive, predicated on the implementation of the country’s economic modernization and development agenda. External imbalances are projected to narrow on the back of increased tourism, a normalization of investment-related imports, and reduced fuel imports with the rollout of geothermal energy. Meanwhile, public debt is set to decline gradually in coming years, supported by sustained prudent fiscal management, but remains above the prudential currency union debt benchmark and is susceptible to shocks.

Executive Board Assessment[3]

Dominica’s economic expansion is poised to continue, but risks to the outlook are elevated and tilted to the downside.

Real GDP growth is projected to average 3½ percent over the next three years, underpinned by ongoing investment in flagship infrastructure projects to boost tourism capacity and transition to lower-cost geothermal energy.

The heavy import-related content of these projects has eroded the external position—which is assessed to be substantially weaker than implied by medium-term fundamentals and desirable policy settings—but gradual improvements are expected as major capital outlays wind down and fiscal consolidation intensifies.

Risks are elevated reflecting Dominica’s vulnerability to natural disaster shocks and amid the evolving trade policy and geopolitical environment.

More ambitious fiscal consolidation than what is envisaged under the authorities’ current policies is needed to reduce economic imbalances and mitigate disaster risks while helping to reinforce prospects for resilient growth.

The overall risk of debt distress is high and as such, it is critical to rebuild fiscal buffers by achieving and maintaining a primary surplus of 3½ percent of GDP from 2026 onward to: (i) reduce public debt below 60 percent of GDP by 2035; and (ii) adequately capitalize the Vulnerability and Resilience Fund to mitigate disaster risks. The strategy should focus on broadening the revenue base, optimizing expenditures to preserve space for macrocritical investment, and enhancing the targeting and sustainability of social protection programs.

Reducing balance sheet vulnerabilities and strengthening regulatory oversight are critical. For banks, priorities include stricter enforcement of provisioning and NPL standards, managing loan loss allowances, and facilitating the disposal of impaired assets, while closely monitoring sovereign and foreign investment exposures. For credit unions, reforms to modernize the prevailing regulatory regime is essential by reinforcing the Financial Services Unit’s operational independence, enhancing risk-based supervision, updating regulatory thresholds, strengthening provisioning and loan management frameworks, and bolstering enforcement tools.

Continued structural reforms are essential for fostering resilient and sustainable growth. Addressing structural challenges that hinder financial intermediation remains a priority. The upcoming launch of a regional credit bureau is welcome.

Complementary reforms should aim at modernizing collateral, foreclosure, and bankruptcy frameworks. Eliminating gaps in education and training relative to economic needs is essential to improve labor market outcomes. A comprehensive approach is needed to foster innovation and allocative efficiency, including exploiting digitalization and streamlining administrative processes for tax compliance, business registration, and permitting.

Concerted efforts to bolster institutional frameworks to mitigate risks and support surveillance, economic planning, and policy execution should continue. Ongoing efforts to strengthen AML/CFT legislation and procedures in line with the CFATF recommendations should help protect correspondent banking relationships. Progress on regional coordination across Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) programs to improve due diligence and transparency is welcome.

Proactive engagement to address evolving concerns around Dominica’s CBI regime remains critical to safeguard this essential source of development financing. Finally, underdeveloped institutional frameworks and limited technical capacity—common among small developing states—complicate policy formulation, monitoring, and implementation.

Alleviating these impediments is an important aspect of sustained engagement, where priorities include targeted measures to strengthen statistical capacity and improve public financial management across fiscal reporting, treasury operations, public investment management, and budget processes.

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[1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

[2] Under the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, publication of documents that pertain to member countries is voluntary and requires the member consent. The staff report will be shortly published on the www.imf.org/en/Countries/DMA page.

[3] The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse-of-time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.

IMF Communications Department
MEDIA RELATIONS
PRESS OFFICER: Meera Louis

Phone: +1 202 623-7100    Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

 

 

Dominica: 2025 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report

June 12, 2025

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Summary
Dominica is a small developing state (SDS) facing large economic imbalances, natural disasters (NDs), and substantial development needs amid slowing potential growth. Its narrow economic base (ecotourism and agriculture) with limited downstream integration leaves it exposed to external shocks, which have pushed debt well above the regional 60 percent of GDP threshold, heightening debt distress risks. The country is highly reliant citizenship-by-investment (CBI) flows—that are susceptible to abrupt halts from evolving third-party security concerns— for reconstruction and strategic investment, which has raised the current account deficit during the building phase. With no independent monetary policy, fiscal policy is the primary policy tool, but weak institutional capacity hampers policy formulation, monitoring, and execution.

 

 

 

 

IMF Executive Board Concludes 2025 Article IV Consultation with St. Kitts and Nevis

Country Report No. 2025/107 : St. Kitts and Nevis: 2025 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for St. Kitts and Nevis

Summary:

• • • In the context of a moderation of growth following the post-pandemic rebound, the economy is facing significant challenges.
    • The fiscal outlook has notably deteriorated against the background of structurally lower Citizenship-By-Investment (CBI) revenues, and the current account deficit has widened.
    • Public banks are facing long-standing weaknesses, which may have important implications for financial stability and fiscal sustainability, while lending from private banks and credit unions is expanding rapidly.

 

 

Barbados to receive nearly US$60 million from IMF

Newsdesk
2025, 06/21

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Friday said it had concluded the fifth and final reviews of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangements with Barbados.

The Washington-based financial institution said that as a result of the completion of the reviews, Barbados will be allowed to draw down the US$19 million under the EFF arrangement and US$39 million under the RSF arrangement.

It said this brings the total disbursements under the EFF arrangement to US$116 million and US$193 million) under the RSF arrangement.

According to the IMF, economic activity in 2024 remained robust, with growth estimated at four per cent, driven by tourism, construction, and business services. Inflation moderated to an average of 1.4 per cent due to easing global commodity prices and prices of domestic goods and services.

The IMF said that the external position strengthened further, with the current account deficit narrowing to 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), supported by tourism receipts, declining import prices, and one-off current transfers.

It said gross international reserves reached US$1.6 billion at end-2024, equivalent to over seven months of import cover, providing continued strong support to the exchange rate peg.

According to the financial institution’s Barbados’ near-term outlook is stable and that growth is expected to reach 2.7 per cent in 2025, supported by construction of tourism-related projects and government investment.

It said inflation is expected to pick up in 2025 due to the rising cost of non-fuel imports and some domestic agricultural products.

“Nevertheless, risks to the outlook are tilted to the downside, amidst the highly uncertain external economic environment and Barbados’ continued vulnerability to global shocks and natural disasters,” the IMF warned.

It said programme performance has remained strong. All quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets were met. The authorities exceeded the primary fiscal surplus target for in financial year 2024/25 and are targeting 4.4 per cent of GDP for financial year 2025/26.

Public debt has fallen below 105 per cent of GDP, and the authorities remain committed to bringing it down to 60 per cent of GDP by financial year 2035/36.

The IMF said Barbados met the EFF structural benchmarks for the review, including completing the assessment of human resource needs at the Barbados Customs and Excise Department, preparing a public-private partnership (PPP) framework, and developing a daily liquidity forecasting framework.

“Both reform measures for the RSF fifth review were also implemented. Key elements to strengthen the integration of climate concerns into public financial management have been completed, including the development of project appraisal guidelines, the deepening of fiscal risk analysis, and the preparation of the PPP framework. The Central Bank of Barbados has also included physical climate risk analysis in its bank stress testing,” it added.

IMF deputy managing director, Bo Li, said the implementation of Barbados’ homegrown Economic Recovery and Transformation programme has remained strong, supported by the EFF and the RSF arrangements. ‘

Li said the completion of the fifth and final reviews marks the successful conclusion of the Fund arrangements.

“While the outlook is stable, risks remain tilted to the downside, given the highly uncertain external economic environment and Barbados’ vulnerability to shocks and natural disasters. The authorities remain strongly committed to ensuring macroeconomic stability and implementing structural reforms to boost potential growth and build resilience.”

Li said maintaining strong fiscal surpluses will be necessary to achieve the public debt target of 60 per cent of GDP by the financial year 2035/36.

“The authorities’ focus on strengthening revenue mobilization and improving public financial management is appropriate. These measures will be key to preserving fiscal sustainability and creating space for public investment. Finalizing ambitious reforms of state-owned enterprises is a priority. The authorities are taking the necessary steps to mobilize external financing.”

Li said that the exchange rate peg remains a critical anchor for macroeconomic stability, supported by ample international reserves.

“Measures have been taken to strengthen the monetary policy framework and financial safety nets. Efforts to enhance the local payments market and infrastructure are advancing, with the goal of moving to a digital payments system in 2026.

“Reforms to improve the business environment and boost growth potential are key. Important measures include advancing the digitalization of government services and investing in skills and education. The authorities focus on boosting macroeconomic resilience to natural disasters and facilitating the transition to renewable energy is welcome,” Li added.

 

 

 

The Caribbean Challenge: Fostering Growth and Resilience Amidst Global Uncertainty

June 10, 2025

Nigel Clarke IMF Deputy Managing Director

Introduction and Road Map
It is a great pleasure to join you here in Brasilia for the 55th Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB or the Bank).

I take this opportunity to thank the Bank for giving me the honor of delivering this year’s lecture in memory of Dr. William Gilbert Demas. It is highly symbolic that this year’s meeting takes place in Brazil for the very first time. This symbolizes a new beginning and demonstrates the CDB’s broad and international coalition of shareholders all vested in CDB’s success.

The CDB is an incredibly important institution that has a vital role to play in Caribbean development. It must be cherished, and supported, even as it delivers value to its borrowing and non-borrowing membership in harmonious partnership with all its stakeholders.

This is also the first CDB Annual General Meeting under the presidency of Mr. Daniel Best. It is therefore in order to congratulate and to wish him tremendous success.

Dr. Demas’s contributions throughout his career—as a policymaker, as an academic, and as an economist—cannot be overstated. He left a legacy of far-sighted vision and excellence that the whole region can be proud of.

We need to channel that vision and that excellence to meet two urgent priorities for the region. First, to lift growth prospects and living standards and second, to build resilience against persistent economic shocks and natural disasters. These two objectives go hand in hand. We need the second to sustainably deliver on the first. At a moment of exceptional uncertainty in the global economy, these tasks become even harder—and our efforts become even more urgent.

Today, I will address the growth and resilience challenge: both in the global context and in the context of the region. I will then discuss how regional policymakers can respond—by implementing sound macroeconomic policies and by following through on necessary structural reforms. Finally, I will share how the IMF is supporting our members to boost growth prospects and build resilience in today’s uncertain global environment.

The Global Growth Challenge
After a series of shocks over the past five years, the global economy seemed to have stabilized—at steady but underwhelming rates, as compared with recent experience.

However, the landscape has now changed. Major policy shifts have signaled a resetting of the global trading system. In early April, the US effective tariff rate jumped to levels not seen in a century. While trade talks continue and there’s been a scaling back of some tariffs, trade policy uncertainty remains off the charts.

As a result, we significantly downgraded our most recent global growth projections in the April World Economic Outlook—by 0.5 percentage point for this year, from 3.3 to 2.8 percent; and 0.3 percentage point in 2026, from 3.3 to 3.0 percent. This represents the lowest global growth in approximately two decades, outside of 2020, the year of the pandemic.

A natural question is: if trade tensions and uncertainty persist, what could be the impact on global growth?

To start, we know that uncertainty imposes huge costs. With complex modern supply chains and changing bilateral tariff rates, planning becomes very difficult. Businesses postpone shipping and investment decisions. The longer uncertainty persists, the larger the costs imposed.

Rising trade barriers hit growth upfront. Tariffs do raise fiscal revenues but come at the expense of reducing and shifting economic activity—and evidence from past episodes suggests higher tariff rates are not paid by trading partners alone. These costs are passed on to importers and, ultimately, to consumers who pay higher prices.

Protectionism also erodes productivity over the long run, especially in smaller economies. Shielding industries from competition reduces incentives for efficient resource allocation. Past productivity and competitiveness gains from trade are given up, which hurts innovation.

Tariffs will impact economic growth differently across countries but no nation is immune. The most significant IMF downgrades to growth are concentrated in countries affected the most by recent trade measures. Low-income countries face the added challenge of falling aid flows, as donor countries reprioritize resources to deal with domestic concerns.

We have already seen an increase in global financial market volatility. Equity market valuations declined sharply in response to the April tariff announcements. Unusual movements in the US government bond and currency markets followed.

Equity markets have since regained ground on the hopes of a swift resolution of trade tensions. With continued uncertainty and tighter financial conditions, our most recent Global Financial Stability Report assessed that risks to global financial stability have increased significantly.

These global realities result in three main vulnerabilities.

• First, valuations remain high in some key segments of global equity and corporate bond markets. If the economic outlook worsens, these assets are vulnerable to sharp adjustments. This could, in turn, affect emerging market currencies, asset prices and capital flows.
• Second, in more volatile markets, some financial institutions could come under strain, especially highly leveraged nonbank financial institutions, with implications for the interconnected financial system.
• Third, sovereign bond markets are vulnerable to further turbulence, especially where government debt levels are high. Emerging market economies—which already face the highest real financing costs in a decade—may now need to refinance their debt and finance fiscal spending at even higher costs.

These vulnerabilities and the potential for impact in emerging economies, should not be underestimated nor ignored.

Global growth prospects were already underwhelming. Over the medium term, these global growth prospects remain at their lowest levels in decades.

What is driving this? Analysis shows that a significant and broad-based slowdown in productivity growth accounts for more than half of the decline in global growth.

This is partly because global labor and capital have not been flowing to the most dynamic firms. Lower private investment after the Global Financial Crisis and slower working-age-population growth in major economies exacerbated the problem. Studies show that, without a course correction, global growth rates by the end of this decade would be below the pre-pandemic average by about 1 percentage point.

Simply put, new uncertainties on top of already weak economic prospects make for a very challenging global growth backdrop.

Growth and Resilience
It is not surprising that most economes also face a challenging outlook. The latest World Economic Outlook already projected tepid growth in the region overall—even before accounting for the US trade policy announcements.

Stronger performance in countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago was offset by slower growth in others. Crime weighs on growth prospects, particularly in Haiti, where the security situation hampers efforts to sustain economic activity, implement reforms and attract aid and foreign direct investment.

The April tariff announcement and its global spillovers would lower regional growth by at least 0.2 percentage point on average but the impact varies across countries.

In tourism-dependent economies, where growth is closely tied to US economic activity, the impact will mainly depend on the size of the US tourist base.

In oil-exporters, lower commodity prices and higher volatility are the main channels of transmission. Lower global growth means lower demand for these commodities which adversely impacts the economies of commodity exporting countries.

 commodity exporting countries.

Slower growth, while a relatively recent phenomena from a global perspective, is, not new to the region. Declining growth trends in have loomed over the longer horizon as well. Recent IMF analysis finds that most countries had significantly slower growth over the last decades: 2001–2023, as compared with the previous two decades: 1980–2000 .

In tourism-dependent economies potential growth declined from 3.3 percent over the 1981 – 2000 period to 1.6 percent over the following two decades, 2001-2019. This presents the region with an aggravated challenge – to reverse the trend of slower growth at a time when global growth is also declining. That is, the challenge is to reverse the trend of slower growth when the wind in the proverbial sail is weaker and has changed direction.

Slower growth slows the improvement in living standards and stymies the aspirations of people for better opportunities. Slowing growth, in the past, meant that convergence in income levels between the region and advanced economies stalled. The gap between the economic fortunes of the regional citizen and that of her counterpart in the advanced world is growing wider.

 

Of course, there are exceptions to the regional trend. In particular, Guyana’s economy has grown rapidly over the past two decades, progressing from low-middle-income to high-income status. Growth accelerated to over 45 percent on average in the past three years, making Guyana the fastest growing economy in the world!

For the region more broadly, the questions are what explains the pattern of declining growth and what is the appropriate menu of policy responses to this pattern?

With respect to the first question, and as in the rest of the world, a key explanation for declining growth is weak productivity growth.

The growth challenge is not a mystery. Growth potential can be decomposed into its constituent factors and we can compare how the regionn’s growth potential has declined over time. Such an analytical and data-driven approach reveals that growth potential is half of what it was a few decades ago. Addressing the growth challenge requires systematic and comprehensive policies to strategically improve the factors that contribute to growth potential.

Zooming in on one of the important factors: productivity growth has declined to almost zero. This is at the root of the growth challenge. In addition to productivity growth, physical and human capital development need to be accelerated. There is no magic solution to the growth challenge. There is no quick fix either.

Great danger exists if we believe that the growth challenge can be addressed with quick fixes. Solving the growth question will require as much effort as the effort put into the macro stability reforms successfully undertaken in Jamaica, Barbados and Suriname.

Maintain and Entrench Macro Stability
The goal for policymakers is clear: to foster resilient and inclusive growth that sustainably raises living standards.

How should this be achieved?

Maintain and entrench macro-economic stability and
Decisively and comprehensively address the factors that raise growth potential

As a pre-requisite, countries should strive to pursue policies that restore, maintain and entrench macroeconomic stability – stable prices, sustainable fiscal trajectories, adequate foreign exchange reserves and financial sector stability.

The collective regional experience powerfully demonstrates the transformative potential of macroeconomic stability. Jamaica, which was burdened with unemployment rates that averaged 20% between the early 1970’s and the end of the 1980’s and 15% between over the 1990’s to the mid 2000’s only achieved the previously unimaginable result of low single digit unemployment rates, in the region of 4% and lower, when stability became entrenched.

Stability is also a friend to the poor. Jamaica achieved the lowest rate of poverty in its history in 2023, again on the back of entrenched macroeconomic stability in the context of an institutionalized social protection framework supplemented by temporary and targeted counter-cyclical measures at times of distress.

History and global economic history clearly demonstrate that economic stability is indispensable to national success, regardless of chosen social and political organization. Economic stability should therefore be guarded and protected as a national asset, allowing for focus on higher order challenges like structural reforms to unlock growth potential.

The requirements of stability should act as a constraint on policy. Any proposed policy action that has the prospect of jeopardizing any of the components of stability should not make it through the policy formation gauntlet. Securing economic stability into the future requires laws but laws are insufficient. Stability over the long term is best preserved by developing, empowering and strengthening institutions.

Build fiscal buffers, strengthen fiscal frameworks, and bolster resilience.
The region hosts different currency regimes. The key requirement is internal consistency within the chosen currency regime. Floating rate and fixed rate currency regimes impose their own constraints. These need to be observed for success. While there is always room for improvement in monetary frameworks, the areas within the macro stability complex that require urgent attention are rebuilding fiscal buffers, strengthening fiscal frameworks and bolstering resilience.

On top of all the other challenges, government budgets in the region are strapped. Providing extraordinary support in response to extraordinary shocks depleted buffers. Public debt ratios have fallen since the pandemic—this is good news. However, in many states, debt and financing needs remain too high.

For some Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) members, achieving their regional debt target of 60 percent of GDP by 2035, a decade from now, will require sizeable efforts. With timely fiscal consolidation, countries can bring down debt ratios, protect against future shocks and make space to invest in crucial human and physical capital—an investment in their own future.

Some have pegged exchange rates, which have been a long-standing anchor of stability. The ECCU, one of only four currency unions in the world, stands as a testimony to the capacity of people to collaborate, cooperate and innovate.

However, to safeguard the stability provided by this currency union into the future, fiscal policies must be sustainable, resilient and consistent with the exchange rate regime. Inconsistency only serves to compromise the currency union with the potential for destabilizing consequences. Advice to policymakers on how to rebuild buffers and strengthen frameworks is straightforward: mobilize tax revenue, spend wisely, and plan ahead.

The tax revenue yield in ECCU countries is falling short of peers. Inefficient tax exemptions and weak tax administrations are leading to large revenue losses. Broadening the tax base and removing distortions will increase revenues and support investment and growth. The Fund provided technical assistance to members in the region to support their ongoing efforts.

Not all spending is productive. With limited fiscal space, focus must be on spending that has the potential to deliver quantifiable social and economic returns within reasonable timeframes. Policymakers should keep the quality and composition of spending under review, including by containing unproductive spending, enhancing efficiency and digitizing government services.

Credibility is critical to allow fiscal consolidation to proceed gradually with lower financing costs and better growth results. Strong medium-term fiscal frameworks, with well-designed fiscal rules and specific plans for fiscal policies and reforms, can help bring debt down and investment up. Frameworks that combine debt and operational targets—and are backed by adequate capacity and institutions—can be particularly powerful.

This approach worked well in Jamaica, where fiscal responsibility was written into law under the Financial Administration and Audit Act. The Act established a public debt goal of 60 percent of GDP and a rule that determines the annual target fiscal balance consistent with that objective. An Independent Fiscal Commission is the arbiter of fiscal rules and provides an opinion on fiscal policy sustainability, strengthening credibility and accountability.

Planning ahead also means being ready for the certainty of economic shocks. A golden rule in policymaking is to design policies that fit the country’s circumstances. Shocks are a permanent feature of small state reality. Economic policy ought, therefore, to make provisions for the inevitability of economic shocks. In Jamaica’s Act, there are clear escape clauses for large shocks and an automatic adjustment mechanism to secure a return to the debt target.

Well-designed and transparent sovereign wealth funds can help stabilize public finances when shocks hit., Trinidad and Tobago’s sovereign wealth fund insulates fiscal policy from oil price fluctuations. Guyana’s fund helps manage its natural resource revenues, finance investment and save for the future. St. Kitts and Nevis is considering a fund to smooth volatile revenues from the Citizenship-by-Investment program.

Planning for shocks is ever more important in regions that face recurrent threats from natural disasters. Countries need to be prepared before disasters hit. Recurring natural disasters impair productive infrastructure and hinder human development, constraining productivity growth even further. Major natural disasters cost an average of 2 percent of GDP per year in the region and close to 4 percent of GDP in the ECCU countries.

The physical dimension to disaster preparedness involves investing in resilient infrastructure. The financial dimension involves developing resilient risk transfer, contingent claim and insurance mechanisms.

Unfortunately, rising global private re-insurance premiums are making the task even harder. Domestic insurance premiums have also been rising. The result is lower insurance coverage in the private sector and thus potentially more burden on governments when a natural disaster strikes.

The region can secure a comprehensive insurance framework with multiple layers: self-insurance through their own fiscal buffers, participation in pooled risk transfer arrangements, contingent financing and catastrophe bonds.

With respect to the first layer, in Jamaica, there is a legislated requirement to save annually in a natural disaster fund. However, in some countries individual buffers declined since the pandemic and need to be restored.

On the second layer, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) helps fill an important gap. Coverage has steadily improved since its inception and the CCRIF has made prompt payouts after various natural disasters. This included US$85 million across five countries, Grenada, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, in a matter of days after Hurricane Beryl, underscoring the Facility’s regional importance. Further expanding coverage would pay off in the long term.

On the third layer of contingent financing, the World Bank approved catastrophe deferred drawdown options for Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, among other countries in the pipeline. Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have already drawn on these instruments following natural disasters.

The IDB has credit contingent facilities with Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines among other countries.

On the fourth layer, Jamaica has, with World Bank assistance, independently sponsored two catastrophe bonds.

Stability, resilience and risk transfer by themselves, do not automatically deliver the elevated growth needed. However, elevated levels of economic growth cannot be achieved without stability. Stability and resilience set the stage for elongating the economic cycle by significantly lowering a country’s risk premium, lowering the cost of capital, expanding the frontier of project economic viability and providing the counter-cyclical capacity to respond to shocks, thereby limiting the duration and intensity of downturns and providing for longer unbroken periods of consecutive economic growth. The Jamaican experience demonstrates these relationships.

To achieve higher growth, in addition to stability, policymakers have to decisively address factors that elevate growth potential beginning with the productivity gap.

Address structural obstacles to lift firm level productivity
Addressing the growth challenge requires reversing the decline in regional growth potential by 1) improving total factor productivity and 2) boosting investment in physical and human capital.

Analysis for the ECCU shows that the bulk of total factor productivity losses come from high costs of finance, cumbersome tax administration, inefficient business licensing and permits and skills mismatches in the workforce. This can also be applied to most of the region beyond the ECCU. Overcoming these obstacles could bring substantial productivity gains ranging from 34 to 65 percent—an incredible result. This could close the gap in income per capita with the US by 9 to 27 percentage points.

Simplify and Digitalize Regulation, Business Licensing, Permits and Tax Payment Procedures
One practical step is to promote digitalization which can significantly boost productivity. This will require a multifaceted strategy including investment in digital infrastructure, digital transformation of government, reducing the cost and increasing the availability of data transmission, improving digital literacy, among other factors.

Application of digital tools and digital technologies to improve access to government services, while reducing time, ought to be a non-negotiable imperative. Further enhancing taxpayer access to digital government services—through e-payment, e-filing and e-registration—would reduce the administrative burden and encourage compliance, fostering a better environment for entrepreneurship.

In much of the region, businesses have to navigate a complex labyrinth of licensing, permitting and regulatory regimes. This is a drag on productivity. While the largest enterprises have the scale to absorb inefficiencies, smaller firms suffocate from overly burdensome processes. Economic vitality of a country is linked to the level of hospitability of the business environment to its small and medium-sized firms.

There is, therefore, tremendous scope in the region to greatly simplify regulatory processes and eliminate unnecessary steps. Furthermore, the digitalization of licensing, permitting and regulatory procedures promises to enhance the efficiency of firms, boosting productivity.

Improving Access to Finance
Another practical step is improving access to finance, the oxygen of business, which can encourage new businesses and support a transition into the more productive formal sector. Finance must be affordable and widespread availability is essential for having a dynamic business environment. There could be an entire session on improving access to finance as it is so fundamental, yet so multifaceted and complex. Many factors hinder access to finance in the region.

Legacy weaknesses in banks’ balance sheets limit access to credit, investment and growth across the region. So it is important to address vulnerabilities in the banking sector. This includes timely compliance with regulatory standards and easier ways to dispose of impaired assets. Progress is happening: banks are building buffers and reducing non-performing loan ratios. More work is needed to ensure all banks meet regulatory minimums.

Reducing the costs of non-performing loan resolutions, ultimately reduces the cost of loans. This can be achieved by modernizing insolvency regimes to encourage faster out-of-court debt workouts. Asset management companies—if properly funded—would facilitate asset disposals.

Collateral infrastructure should be strengthened through effective credit registries and partial credit guarantee schemes. The recently created regional credit bureau in the Eastern Caribbean can help lower the cost and time of credit risk assessments and close information asymmetry gaps. This will help small and medium enterprises access credit while safeguarding credit quality.

Stronger anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing frameworks can help protect the financial system from external threats and retain correspondent banking relationships, the absence of which impedes access to credit.

These financial sector measures are absolutely necessary but hardly revolutionary. Revolutionizing access to credit in the region could be achieved by enabling mobile real-time, instant, 24/7 payment system platforms as exist in India through their Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and in Brazil through Pix.

In both India and Brazil, access to finance and to financial services have been transformed and inclusiveness expanded, by these innovations. Transactions are free, or ultra-low cost and these payment platforms are integrated into banking apps and into e-commerce platforms. These systems only exist within the context of national identification systems that provide the necessary identity verifications as required.

Seize Opportunities from Renewable Energy Transition
Use of oil imports for electricity generation is costly and led to very high electricity prices which undermines competitiveness—particularly for the tourism industry—at the expense of potential growth. As explored in the Caribbean Forum in Barbados, a successful energy transition can foster inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth. That transition will look different for energy-importing and energy-exporting countries.

For energy importers, diversifying into renewable energy, with fast declining costs, can reduce reliance on expensive and volatile oil imports and offer relief from some of the highest electricity costs in the world. Consider this key fact: electricity in many countries in the the region costs, a minimum of, twice as much as in advanced economies. We have been discussing this in the region for a long time. Too long. The energy transition would enhance external sustainability for energy importers, while making them more competitive, more resilient to shocks and more likely to grow faster and on a sustainable basis.

 

Seizing these opportunities requires tackling key obstacles- high upfront investment costs, limited fiscal space, regulatory hurdles for private investment, small market sizes and isolated grids that hinder economies of scale. So, transition to renewables will take time and investment and coordination on a regional scale.

One immediate, cost-effective step is to implement energy efficiency measures. Barbados and Jamaica retrofitted government buildings with energy-efficient equipment, delivering quick savings, typically without large upfront costs.

Regionally, initiatives like the Resilient Renewable Energy Infrastructure Investment Facility, championed by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and supported by the World Bank, offer a promising step forward. Regional mechanisms to promote pooled procurement and harmonize regulatory frameworks will also be key.

Energy exporters face different challenges. Most notably, they have the difficult task of managing changes in fossil fuel demand and fiscal revenues while maximizing the value of existing reserves. The energy transition is also an opportunity to diversify into the green energy sectors of the future, such as green petrochemicals and green hydrogen.

Exporters must be aware of spillovers from other regions’ climate policies, such as border carbon adjustment mechanisms. Exposure to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, could, potentially, affect over 5 percent of total exports from Trinidad and Tobago. A further 5 percent is at risk if the EU expands its Mechanism. Exporters can turn this type of spillover into an advantage. By introducing their own carbon pricing systems, they can retain revenue in their economies rather than have it collected by their trading partners.

Human Capital, Skills Gap and Physical Infrastructure
The most important investment is in boosting the human capital of the region. Human capital development is multifaceted but today I will focus on the central elements of education and skills.

Invest in Human Capital; Address the Skills Gap
Given the small size of regional economies and the absence of economies of scale, economic success will be determined by the level and quality of human capital in the region. Elevated levels of economic growth will require substantial improvements in education and skills outcomes across the region and in some countries more than others. This is deserving of the region’s energy and focus.

A recent survey for the ECCU highlights a shortage of skilled labor as a key constraint for businesses. This skills gap is also a reality in Jamaica and can be generalized across the region. What can be done? The answer is twofold: enhance the skills of those employed and provide opportunities to those who have skills but are not in the labor market. Expanding vocational training and modernizing education systems, coupled with active labor market policies, can help mitigate the skills gap. Ddigital tools can connect employers with potential employees.

Emerging technologies—such as artificial intelligence—make closing the skills gap all the more important. The opportunity is that rapidly evolving technologies could bring high productivity gains, with the threat that failure to upgrade skills could expose industries important to the region such as business process outsourcing.

Harnessing that potential includes integrating AI and data science into all levels of education.The good news is that many countries in the region are facing the skills challenge head on.

My home country of Jamaica launched a national initiative—supported by the World Bank—for secondary school students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, known as the STEAM initiative. In Barbados, the 2022 Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan aims to enhance the business environment by advancing digitalization and skills training. In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, ongoing education reform is focused on modernizing and expanding post-secondary technical and vocational education to better align skills with labor market needs.

In Antigua and Barbuda, planned expansion of the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus will provide new opportunities for higher education and regional talent development.

However more can and should be done in these countries. The goal of policy should be to have regional schools rank in the upper quartile of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) benchmarks.

On creating more opportunities, bringing more women into the labor market can contribute to economic growth. Eliminating the gender gap in the ECCU—which is over 11 percentage points, on average—could boost regional GDP by roughly 10 percent. That is a powerful economic case for inclusive labor policies, such as enhanced access to childcare and elderly care.

It is also imperative to foster opportunities for youth. The region has some of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world, ranging from 10 to 40 percent. Empowering future generations is at the core of addressing the growth and resilience challenge.

I acknowledge the important efforts led by CARICOM to work towards deeper social and economic integration with tangible progress this year. CARICOM members are working to enable free movement of citizens for willing countries. Importantly, this initiative includes access to education, emergency healthcare, and primary healthcare for migrating individuals.

Boost Investment in Infrastructure
Improved infrastructure enhances the productivity of capital as well as the productivity of labor. The region will need much higher levels of investment to restore and boost its growth potential.

Workers depend on public transportation to get to work and back home. If this, for example, routinely takes an hour and a half each way, on average, and costs a third of weekly wages, then labor productivity will suffer. Efficient, affordable, accessible mass transportation enhances productivity. While taxis complement bus transportation, they cannot be an effective substitute. This is more of a problem in larger territories and Jamaica is tackling this problem head-on.

Similarly, road and highway connectivity that opens new investment opportunities and reduces the cost of transportation of people and goods enhances productivity of capital as well as the productivity of labor and enhances growth potential.

Modern commerce relies on communication and, importantly, on data. There is scope for telecommunications and broadband infrastructure to be improved, for data costs to be lowered and for data access to be expanded. This will require investment. Hopefully, private investment, but investment that will need to be facilitated by government policy.

Water is the source of life. Without water, communities are less productive and businesses cannot function. Across the region, significant investment in water treatment, storage, and distribution infrastructure will be required to support economic growth and improve standards of living over the medium term.

All of these elements of infrastructure – transportation, broadband, roads, water and energy need considerable investment to keep societies competitive and to raise the growth potential. However, regional governments lack the required resources to finance these investments from tax revenues and fund education, health, security and other essential services.

Governments   need to consider attracting local, regional, and international private capital in well-structured transactions to finance the productivity enhancing infrastructure needs of the region. This can be accomplished through the variety of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) modalities that exist and with advice of multilateral partners.The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) are experienced in structuring these kinds of transactions and know what is required to generate investor interest. The IFC has been instrumental in assisting Jamaica to develop its pipeline of PPPs.

It is not advisable to develop PPPs sequentially, one at a time, starting one as the other concludes. Given the preparation period required for each, sequential PPP development will take too long. Instead, pursue PPPs using a programmatic approach. That is, develop a pipeline of infrastructure PPPs in parallel so you can bring these to market in rapid succession.

The time and resources required for investors to familiarize themselves with the macro-environment, legislative framework, regulatory architecture, country risks etc., with uncertainty around bid success, need to be amortized over a number of transactions – in order to attract deep pocketed and experienced investors prepared to provide competitive bids.Open,well structured transparent and competitive PPPs can help bridge the infrastructure gap and boost productivity.

The Role of the IMF
These are not easy times and these are not easy steps to take. They require clarity of vision, coordination, partnerships, technical expertise and lots of energy. But these steps can put the region on a path toward greater growth and resilience.

Rest assured that the IMF remains fully committed to supporting our members across the region. Our near-universal membership provides a unique global perspective and we are informed by a large range of cross-country experiences over the last 80 years.

With 191 member countries the IMF, as compared to the United Nations with 192 member countries, is as global as it gets. We engage with each of our members on a country-by-country basis, as well as on a regional basis with currency unions, including the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.

Member countries are shareholders and owners of the IMF. We work for you through three primary modalities – (i) surveillance, where we provide a review and analysis of member countries’ economy on an annual or biennial basis. This review, the Article IV Consultation report, named after the clause in our articles that mandates this exercise, is a principal obligation of IMF membership.

This review, which contains country specific policy advice, is published and freely available online. I encourage media practitioners, economists, financial analysts, public policy advocates and citizens interested in their country and region to access these Article IV reports and make good use of the information and analysis contained therein.

The second modality through which the IMF provides a service to its member countries is capacity development. We provide technical analysis and tailor-made policy advice on specific issues that countries may be grappling with. For example, designing of tax policy measures, improving efficiency in public spending, optimizing public debt management, bolstering the capacity of statistics agencies and the development of monetary policy tools to name a few. Under this modality we provide training courses for public officials through regional institutions such as CARTAC and in courses at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC.

Our third modality is the one that most are familiar with – the IMF provides financing designed to address balance of payments challenges. Our long-established lending toolkit helps countries restore macroeconomic stability. In this goal of restoring macroeconomic stability many countries have had successful engagements with the IMF. In the region, Jamaica, Barbados, and Suriname come immediately to mind.

At the recent IMF Spring Meetings I moderated a panel where the Greek Finance Minister made the point that at this juncture of very challenging fiscal circumstances in the Eurozone, only six countries within the 27 member EU have fiscal surpluses and four of these had IMF programs during the Global Financial Crisis.

The IMF continues to evolve to meet the needs of member countries.Rapid facilities provide emergency financing when shocks hit.Our newer Resilience and Sustainability Facility provides affordable long-term financing to support resilience-building efforts.

 

Brbados and Suriname made great strides in positioning their economies for growth while reducing vulnerabilities under their economic programs supported by the Extended Fund Facility. Ownership of the reforms has been critical to their success.

Jamaica had access to—but did not draw on—the Fund’s Precautionary and Liquidity Line, which provided an insurance buffer against external shocks. It supported efforts to keep the economy growing, reduce public debt, enhance financial frameworks, and upgrade macroeconomic data.

The Fund also provided rapid financing to seven Caribbean member countries during the pandemic. Barbados and Jamaica benefitted from the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Reforms have helped integrate climate-related risks in macroeconomic frameworks, provide incentives for renewable energy to support growth and catalyze financing for investment in resilience.

We are also engaging closely with Haiti through a Staff-Monitored Program designed to support the authorities’ economic policy objectives and build a track record of reform implementation, which could pave the way for financial assistance from the Fund.

Of course, the effectiveness of our advice and financial support is enhanced by our continued efforts in capacity development. In particular, I would like to highlight the work of CARTAC, which has been operating since 2001.

CARTAC offers capacity building and policy advice to our Caribbean members across several areas: from public finance management, to tax and customs administration, to financial sector supervision and financial stability, and beyond.

We greatly appreciate the generous support received so far for CARTAC. But more is needed to close the financing gap. I hope we can count on your advocacy with development partners to sustain CARTAC’s essential work.

In my time at the Fund thus far, I have seen how much advanced countries rely on, and use, the IMF’s intellectual output to the benefit of their countries and how this output features in, and informs, public discourse in many member countries. The IMF is an incredibly powerful resource that works for you and I strongly encourage Caribbean countries to strategically maximize their use of the IMF and what it has to offer.

A Call to Action
Policymakers in the Caribbean are facing a complex set of old and new challenges.But challenging times can also be times of opportunity, action, and resolve.

The Caribbean is a region of immense promise, with rich cultural heritage, natural beauty, and vibrant population.The world is undergoing profound change. This change introduces global vulnerabilities to which the Caribbean is not immune. The resilience of small open economies like those in the Caribbean is likely to be tested.

It is imperative, therefore, that Caribbean countries work to put their macro-fiscal houses in order while engaging in deep and meaningful structural reforms to increase the growth potential of Caribbean economies.

You hold the keys to the future of the region. You have the tools, the talent, and the tenacity to chart a new path for growth and resilience. Your actions can make a difference to the Caribbean’s prospects. We have seen many steps in the right direction to address bottlenecks and boost productivity. And we encourage you to keep going.

• Implement those reforms that are under your control.
• Continue to work together across the region.
• Capitalize on CARICOM to achieve a larger market for the movement of people, investment, and trade.
• Stay focused on the goal: delivering more economic resilience, higher growth prospects, and better living standards for people across the Caribbean.

And, you can count on the Fund along the way. Thank you.

 

 

[1] The other currency unions are: Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC); West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU); and the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

IMF Communications Department
MEDIA RELATIONS
PRESS OFFICER: Julie Ziegler

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