Forum in Trinidad to discuss help for Caribbean countries in light of challenges

Saúl Lizondo, Associate Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department

BASSETERRE,ST. KITTS, AUGUST 29TH 2012 (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas is among ministers of finance and central bank governors invited to a high-level forum to discuss how lessons from the past and from other parts of the world could help the Caribbean economies in light of the distinctive challenges the region faces.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean Development Bank will hold the forum on

“Rethinking Policy to Address Low Growth and High Debt in the Caribbean” on September 4 and 5, 2012 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

“This forum offers a unique opportunity to further our ongoing dialogue with the Caribbean and listen to the concerns and ideas of policy makers regarding the challenges the region faces and explore possible policy avenues to foster inclusive and sustainable growth,” Mr. Saúl Lizondo, Associate Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, said ahead of the gathering today.

The forum will bring together Ministers, Central Bank Governors, and other high-ranking officials from the ECCU members-Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Anguilla and Montserrat—as well as from The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The event’s opening ceremony to be headed by The Honourable Winston Dookeran, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago; Dr. William Warren Smith, President of the Caribbean Development Bank, and Mr. Min Zhu, IMF Deputy Managing Director.