Basseterre, St. Kitts - ST. KITTS and NEVIS and other borrowing member states of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) are being urged to develop their economies in order to achieve significant growth.
This comes on the heels of a CDB study that revealed borrowing states in the Caribbean for 2016 would see a meagre economic growth of some 0.3 percent.
This revelation was made by the Sustainable Adviser at the Caribbean Development Bank, Joseph Williams, who stated that in order for the borrowing member countries to achieve much higher economic growth rates on par with other developing countries, they need to be, “inter alia, Dynamic, Export-orientated, Competitive, Inclusive, Diverse and (have) Environmentally-resilient economies”.
Williams was at the time delivering his address at a recently held Geothermal Workshop at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, where he told participants that a CDB 2015 Economic Review showed the above mentioned growth rate.
He however declared that if Trinidad and Tobago were to be removed from the study, the overall projection would be some 1.7 percent growth.
The Sustainable Advisor explained that 1.2 percent is what the region has been averaging since 2009, which is a weak growth rate when compared with other small island developing states.
The 1.2 percent, he noted, is well below the 3.3 percent that other small island states continue to register on average.
He disclosed that the bank concluded that these growth rates are insufficient to address the region’s concerns about employment, equality and poverty reduction.
Williams also stated that as key drivers to sustainable economic growth in the region, the financial institution’s study points to improved energy security, private sector-led growth, regional integration to maximize gains, and governments acting as facilitators and efficient regulators.
“The promotion of sustainable energy as a means of addressing challenges by most countries is a key dimension of responding to the call for countries to DECIDE,” he added, while explaining that the acronym DECIDE means “Dynamic, Export-orientated, Competitive, Inclusive, Diverse and Environmentally-resilient economies”.
This is particularly true of geothermal development, he noted, adding that it remains one means to which Eastern Caribbean countries could significantly raise their growth trajectory and transform their economies.
