Regional Finance Ministers Address Issues Affecting Economic Growth In Caribbean

GEORGETOWN, Guyana CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) finance ministers, who met in Trinidad and Tobago last week, have unanimously agreed that the level of integration and inter-relatedness among their economies warrants a regional solution to the current economic difficulties which have the potential to affect even those economies which have performed well.

According to a CARICOM Secretariat statement, the finance ministers paid particular attention to the state of regional economies and addressed implementation issues relating to the Framework for Growth and Development which had been the focus of attention at the heads of government summit in Trinidad in July.

It said the ministers agreed to recommend to the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government “a process to carry the issues forward including the appointment of a technical committee consisting of representatives of member states to assist the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP) in monitoring the economic situation.

“The Council identified priority issues such as fiscal sustainability, resource mobilization and unemployment on which there should be focus.”

Regional leaders had assigned the Bureau the task of moving the issue of growth and development forward and according to the CARICOM statement “there was unanimous agreement that the level of integration and inter-relatedness among CARICOM economies warranted a regional solution to the current economic difficulties”.

It said the meeting in Port of Spain approved the draft CARICOM Financial Services Agreement and the draft amendment to the Intra-CARICOM Double Taxation Agreement for finalization and signature by member states.

The CARICOM Financial Services Agreement will establish a regional framework for the supervision and regulation of financial entities which operate cross-border in the regional economic space while the Intra-CARICOM Double Taxation Agreement was amended to incorporate provisions for the application of the global standard for the exchange of tax information among CARICOM Tax Administrations.

The Council also reviewed the state of preparedness of CARICOM countries for accommodating the reporting procedures resulting from the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). “While the Ministers understood the importance that the United States attached to the protection of its tax base, they stressed the serious implications of compliance by CARICOM States, given the highly integrated nature of the Region’s financial sector. 

“Ministers emphasized the importance of continuing their co-ordinated approach to negotiations with the United States and agreed to meet in mid-September to review the work of the CARICOM Task Force on FATCA,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Alvin Hilaire has been appointed as the next Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Barbados-based CARICOM Development Fund (CDF).

The Fund was established to provide technical and financial assistance to countries, regions and sectors which are disadvantaged due to operations of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) as well as positioning member states to take advantage of the opportunities in the market.