PAPSS or Carib$ or both of them — where should the Caribbean go? Despite the geographical proximity of CARICOM nations, high barriers to trade make close neighbours seem worlds apart. Transferring funds across the region is a slow, expensive and complicated process — a predicament which the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) aims to address. […]
Exploring the Power of Complementary Currencies for Revitalising the Caribbean Economy Complementary Currencies (CCs) have been around since the 1980s and are currently being used by over 5000 communities worldwide – ranging from small villages in Africa to whole countries such as Switzerland. CCs have proven to support economic development specifically in regions plagued by […]
Tackling USD Liquidity Drenches in the Caribbean The Caribbean is plagued by challenges in cross-border payments, stalling trade development across the region. Businesses have limited and slow access to US Dollars. Wire transfers come with high costs, slow transaction times, and accessibility challenges. Even the simplest cross-border transactions become an expensive, slow, uncertain, and bureaucracy-laden […]
Multi-Stakeholder Governance: A CSME Success Factor Owen Seymour Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados, stated in the year 2000, ”I must say to you that the single market and economy in the Caribbean cannot truly become a reality, unless we create the political power structures to make it a reality. It will not be easy […]
A Remedy Against De-risking of Banks
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A Remedy Against De-risking of Banks International banks are de-risking their business and Caribbean businesses pay a steep price for this. As an example, remember what was happening in Belize in 2016. At this time the majority of Belize’s banks were de-risked. There was no easy way to transfer money in or out of Belize […]
Cross-Border Trade & Regional Integration
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Cross-Border Trade & Regional Integration Navigating the Caribbean market has been costly and cumbersome for businesses for decades now. Why is the Caribbean still a patchwork of small island countries, with multiple currencies and largely isolated business markets? And how may better economic integration be achieved within the region? The idea of economic integration itself […]