Caricom Leaders Agree To Help Grenada Repair Its Tattered Economy

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

21 September 2004

The issue of Grenada’s reconstruction and the maintenance of its financial system in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan took precedence at an emergency meeting of Caricom heads of government in Trinidad last week.

The meeting was called to discuss CARICOM's response to the damaging effects of the recent three hurricanes to pass through the Caribbean region.

The last of these, Hurricane Ivan, was responsible for 60 deaths and billions of dollars of damage as it passed over Tobago, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba and the Bahamas.

In Grenada, the financial cost of the hurricane damage has been estimated at EC$15 billion (US$5.5 billion) – a figure Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, noted was 15 times Grenada’s annual gross domestic product.

As a result, there are serious concerns over the state of Grenada’s economy, and the country’s representative Mr. Richardson Andrews (special advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell), said significant assistance was needed for recovery.

“Grenada has no economy. The economy is dead,” Mr Andrews observed.

The Heads of State have agreed that Grenada should receive the most aid out of all the affected islands. One of the proposals under consideration is the establishment of a pool of budgetary resources to assist Grenada in meeting its financial obligations for the next three months.

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