Banking / Investment in Caribbean
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CUBA, 2015/12/02
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 and Cuba’s subsequent hardship while transitioning to a additional decentralized economy in its “Appropriate Period,” Cuba has implemented significant economic changes. While preserving socialist gains finished during the Revolution, it has continued to develop elements of capitalism initial employed by Fidel Castro in response to severe economic times in the 1990s. Cuba has undergone a series of recent transformations in its ability and willingness to attract the kind of foreign investment that is essential in developing and sustaining economic increase.
Until Fidel Castro began decentralizing national economic control by allowing inflows of foreign capital and other outside investment , the Cuban economy contracted drastically. Next the Soviet Union began to dissolve in 1989, Cuba suffered an immediate 75 to 80 % drop in foreign exchange receipts as Soviet subsidies dried up.
Per-capita gain contracted by 34 % from 1990 to 1993 because of a lack of foreign investment and access to international financial institutions, coupled with a hardened U.S. trade embargo.3 Since that Cold War period, Cuba has continuously opened up to foreign investment and has used it to develop struggling elements of the economy. As the Cuban government’s control of the economy has gradually diminished, the island country has seen tremendous improvements in its ability to increase and sustain economic increase.
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BARBADOS, 2015/04/02
The Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) says the island’s economy continued to demonstrate resilience in spite of challenging economic conditions.
In its 2014 Financial Stability Statement released here, the CBB said that over the course of the 12 months ending September 2014, most deposit-taking entities inclunding banks, trust companies and finance houses inclunding insurance firms faced low request for major financial products by the private sector. “As a result, increase was weak and in some instances, entities recorded a contraction on their balance sheets,” the CBB said, noting that for the banks, loan increase was driven by one particular loan to Government, inclunding mortgage lending in the personal sector.
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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, 2014/06/01
The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago is seeking to assure policyholders that the terms of conditions of their policies “have not changed at all” and that the plan for the resolution of the insurance giant “has always included the transfer of the traditional insurance portfolio to a third party insurance company.
The Central Bank last week confirmed it had put up for sale, the cash-strapped insurance company, whose near total collapse four years ago, led to the Trinidad and Tobago government pumping billions of dollars to keep it afloat.
“As part of the resolution strategy for CLICO, the Central Bank proposes to transfer CLICO’s traditional insurance portfolio for price to an acquiring insurance company that is well capitalised, has a proven track record and the capacity to honour all obligations to policyholders,” CLICO said in a statement.
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HAITI, 2014/05/26
The World Bank says nearly 35,000 residents from localities in the north of Haiti will benefit from new infrastructure, economic opportunities and support to cultural events as a result of a US$45 million grant for tourism development.
The Washington-based financial institution said that the project aims at improving access, conservation and management of the World Heritage Site of the National Historic Park and the historic center of Cap Haitien, inclunding establishing new destinations for travelers.
The bank said northern Haiti has strong potential for regional development through tourism with its World Heritage sites and natural assets, stating that the National Historic Park has attracted additional than 30,000 visitors in 2013.
It noted the tourist stopover of Labadie, where the ships of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line are anchoring off the same coast where Christopher Columbus’ ship landed in 1492.
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BARBADOS, 2014/05/26
The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says it welcomes the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) revision of the bank’s outlook from “negative” to “stable” and affirmation of its “AA/A-1+” status on long and short term foreign currency ratings.
The US-based rating agency had before this month reviewed the CDB’s 2013 results and that the decision to change the bank’s outlook had been based on the abatement of external liquidity pressures part some of the Bank’s major borrowers inclunding “high capital adequacy with a risk-adjusted capital ratio of 23 % as of December 31, 2013 to offset the significant embedded credit risk in its portfolio”.
S&P as well noted the CDB’s “strong” business profile and its “very strong” financial profile inclunding its role as a prominent lender in the Caribbean and ability to lend to sovereigns through the credit cycle.
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AMERICAS, 2014/03/15
Caribbean nations are being urged to take chance of a multi-million facility to finance regional public goods (RPGs) that are produced collectively by a group of Inter American Development Bank (IDB) borrowing member nations.
The IDB said in 2014, the initiative for the promotion of regional public goods in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), will provide up to eight million (US) dollars in grants to finance RPGs,
The bank said the initiative is based on the premise that the nations of the region share challenges or opportunities for development that can be addressed or seized upon additional entirely and efficiently by means of regional cooperation.
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BAHAMAS, 2014/03/05
The Bahamas government has again sought to reassure nationals that it was not interfering in the operations of the Bank of Bahamas (BOB) in which it has 65 % majority share holding.
“The Government does not control or interfere in the management of BOB. The Government is aware, however, that the Bank has by presently made a number of positive changes to its policies, practices and management structure which will prove beneficial to the Bank as it moves forward.
“Moreover, additional improvements to the governance of the bank will be made in due course. In the meantime, however, all customers and the public alike can rest assured that the Bank of The Bahamas is sound, that its fundamentals remain strong, and that it has the full backing of the Government,” the Perry Christie government said in a statement.
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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, 2014/03/05
The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) says it has pumped half a billion US dollars into the domestic foreign exchange market, saying it is aware of the difficulty some businesses and the public have been experiencing in obtaining foreign currency.
In a statement, the CBTT said that it has been “actively and aggressively” taking steps to address the situation and that in the last three and a half months it has sold US$500 million to the banking sector to alleviate tensions in the domestic foreign exchange market.
The CBTT said that it typically supplies 25 % of the total foreign exchange needs of the market, with the remaining 75 % supplied by the banking system.
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BARBADOS, 2014/03/05
Barbados is at one of the most significant cross-roads in our history. Our fiscal deficit due initially to the fallout we experienced after the 2007/08 worldwide financial meltdown has been compounded by the rapid build up of debt required to fund the fiscal deficit.
There are choices made by both administrations in the past which have contributed to the situation we are in. I will not be addressing those issues as there are not pertinent to the solution recently proposed by Dr. Estwick.
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ARGENTINA, 2013/03/13
While Panama's banks held their lead as the biggest banks in Central America, Nicaragua steamed ahead in terms of return on capital and return on assets. HSBC remains the leader of The Banker’s Central American rankings with a Tier 1 capital up by 8.38% to $1.23bn in 2011, the last available financial year.
