Caribbean Still Forecast To Grow This Year And Next – World Bank

By NAN Business Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 10, 2022: Most Caribbean countries with the exception of Haiti are still forecast to grow economically this year and the next, according to the latest World Bank forecast. This comes even as the Bank says challenging global conditions will be weighing on growth globally and also in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The country forecast to see the most growth this year and in 2023 is Guyana with the Bank saying the South American CARICOM nation will grow by almost 48 percent this year and just over 34 percent next year.

Here’s where the other countries rank from highest to lowest in the economic forecast scale.

Country | 2022 forecast | 2023 Forecast
Barbados | 11.2 | 4.9
Dominica | 6.8 | 5
St. Lucia | 6.4 | 5.2
Bahamas | 6 | 4.1
Belize | 5.7 | 3.4
Dominican Republic | 5 | 5
Grenada | 3.8 | 3.4
St. Vincent And the Grenadines | 3.7 | 6.4
Jamaica | 3.2 | 2.3
Suriname | 1.8 | 1.1
Haiti | -.4 | 1.4

The World Bank’s report comes against the backdrop of the Summit of the Americas, attended by several Caribbean leaders and boycotted by several Latin American leaders including Mexico.

The Bank says globally, the damage from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have magnified the slowdown in the global economy, which is entering what could become a protracted period of feeble growth and elevated inflation. This raises the risk of stagflation, with potentially harmful consequences for middle- and low-income economies alike, the World Bank said.