By Ramiro Castillo

According to the study of Alfred Schipke, chief of the Division of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the Western Hemisphere and new representative in Washington, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago represent the countries with lower debt levels in the Caribbean region including English speakers. The debt of the Dominican Republic nonfinancial public sector is 28% approximately.

The author points out in his study "Overview of other monetary union": The progress of the reforms should help the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union to overcome the current economic uncertainty, that rising fiscal deficits, lack of fiscal integration, unsustainable debt and private sector challenges threaten the foundations of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), one of the four schemes in the world currency.

By Tony Paul

The Jamaica's GDP will increase from one to two percent during the first quarter of 2012 compared to same period last year, according to estimates from the Bank of this Caribbean island.

The climb takes into account expected growth in agriculture, forestry, fishing, electricity, water supply, hotels and restaurants, and construction.

By Tony Paul

Caracas. - The average price of crude continued to rise this week in major international markets, according to figures from the Ministry of Petroleum and mining in Venezuela, reported on Friday.

Venezuelan crude this week scored an average of $ 110.82 a barrel, 2.43 dollars more than the preceding period and $ 3.76 above the figure reached 15 days ago.

By Lara Holmes

One of the leading international credit rating agencies has downgraded Belize’s credit status a notch deeper into junk territory, despite giving an improved outlook on the economy.

The Wall Street-based Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said on Monday that it downgraded the Caribbean Community member-nation’s status after Prime Minister Dean Barrow signaled less political will to service the country’s large debt.

By Eliane Portillo

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a disbursement of an amount equivalent to 2.05 million (US$3.1 million) under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) for Dominica to help manage the economic impact of a series of natural disasters from July-September 2011.

Dominica was hit by a number of natural disasters during the summer and fall of 2011, with major flooding and landslides damaging infrastructure and housing. The cost of reconstruction and rehabilitation is expected to be high at 6 1/2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and will weaken Dominica’s balance of payments.

By Susana Lima

According to authorities of the country, tourism has remained as one of the main income sources and leader of economic development and job creation.

The Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, Lorne Theophilus, stresses the need to remain as one of the top destinations in the Caribbean and the importance of strengthening relations with foreign partners.

The representative of this organization encouraged to keep the hard work to continue the year with good results and encouraged to join groups to promote the development of public and private sectors.

He also urged the union between heritage and creative industries, adding that although they had the most luxurious hotels, travelers returned to St. Lucia because of the people they knew during their stay.

The Tourism Director, Louis Lewis, said: We are determined to continue to position our island as an ideal place for romance, rejuvenation and adventure in the Caribbean.

By Eliane Portillo

Cuba and China agreed on Tuesday to work on their economic bilateral agenda for 2012-2016, on the basis of complementing each other, asserted Ricardo Cabrisas, vice-president of the Council of Ministers, in Beijing

This decision highlights the strategic nature of the relationship between the two countries, which was validated at the 24th session of the Intergovernmental Commission chaired by Cabrisas and Chen Deming, Minister of Trade of the Asian nation, the news agency reported. 

By Susana Lima

A new modern training simulator for drilling will be installed in the western province of Matanzas by Cuban and foreign experts.

The equipment is currently located at 150 kilometers from Havana, in the municipality of Cardenas, which according to Joaquin Abradelo, sector specialist, is one of the most advanced of its kind in the world. Their incorporation into Cuban territory is due to new policies and strategies designed to strengthen the drilling of oil in Cuba.

The Cuban government invested a large amount of financial and material resources for the installation and operation of the equipment to ensure the training of operators in the oil exploration and production.

By Susana Lima

During the parliamentary debates of the Committee on Energy and Environment stressed the capacity of sugarcane biomass as a renewable importance source in the generation of electricity in Cuba.

One of the 12th permanent members of the National Assembly met at Havana's Convention Palace until last Wednesday stressed that the Cuban agricultural industry is the sector with more power generating capacity in the country.

The Cubasolar Company’s vice president, Julio Torres, stressed that while other sources of the same type are too variable, biomass, organic matter, has the special ability to accumulate solar energy constantly.

By Eliane Portillo

Trinidad and Tobago will strengthen its financial sector supervisory and regulatory framework with a US$50 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Trinidad and Tobago is considered the regional financial center for the English-speaking Caribbean and the global crisis impacted its financial sector,” said IDB financial markets lead specialist and team leader Juan Antonio Ketterer.

By Fernando Álvarez: Ex IMF Economist

Heart disease, cancer, strokes, obesity, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death in the Caribbean and represent a rapidly increasing share of total health expenditure for countries in the region, says the World Bank.  According to two new reports – Non-Communicable Diseases in Jamaica: Moving from Prescription to Prevention and The Growing Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases in the Eastern Caribbean - much of the rise in chronic diseases in the Caribbean can be traced to individual risk factors such as poor diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and alcohol abuse.

NCDs impose an increasing burden on Caribbean health systems as its population ages and rates of fertility and mortality continue to decline. The growing NCDs disproportionally affect more women and people living in poverty, said Shiyan Chao, World Bank Senior Health Economist and lead author of the studies. In the reports we argue that NCDs are largely preventable by reducing the main behavioral risk factors, focusing on prevention and using a multi-sectoral and coordinated approach. The NCD burden can be reduced through effective health promotion and disease prevention programs that tackle such risk factors. Particularly effective are low cost measures to curb tobacco use, such as taxes, and to reduce salt in processed and semi-processed foods.

By Susana Aguirre

The U.S. Senate approved a project authorizing employers in Puerto Rico to collect a federal tax credit of between $ 2.400 and $ 9.000 in order to hire unemployed military veterans.

Pedro Pierluisi, Resident Commissioner in Washington, said that an initiative indicates that the Island's taxpayers not filing federal credit may apply at the state and then the Department of Treasury of Puerto Rico will be reimbursed by the U.S. Treasury.