Antigua & Barbuda Fiance Minister calls for more IMF Support

CARICOM wants more support from IMF/World Bank

Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation - Barbados
Tuesday, 23 October 2007

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to pay closer attention to the needs of the region in respect of its ability to respond to its debt challenges.

Antigua and Barbuda's Finance and Economy Minister Dr Errol Cort, speaking on behalf of the region, said the international community had "a moral obligation to provide financing for adaptation and mitigation efforts in developing countries including Small Island Developing States".

Addressing the IMF/World Bank Board of Governors meeting, Cort said there was a need for specific interventions to address the issue of crime and violence in the Caribbean. "The Caribbean Community urges the Bank to rethink its approach to crime and violence and to recognise it as an urgent development issue.

"As a first step, the Bank could convene all the development partners to review the findings of the 2007 UN-World Bank study on Crime and Violence in the Caribbean and identify areas of partnership on the regional security plan."

Cort welcomed the region-wide research and outreach activities being undertaken by the IMF and the World Bank, especially in support of the full establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

He also stressed the role of the international financial institutions in assisting the Caribbean to reposition itself to thrive in the global economy is critical "We call on the Bank and the Fund to demonstrate a greater awareness of, and sensitivity to, the significant debt challenges facing many Caribbean countries, primarily precipitated by the vulnerabilities associated with small island economies. "In this regard, we encourage the Bank to be more creative in developing instruments to specifically assist middle income countries that do not qualify for IDA funding, but continue to experience significant development challenges as a result of their high debt overhang," he added. Cort also stressed the Caribbean region's strong support for the operationalisation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Adaptation Fund.