Caribbean economic emergency 2020

Caribbean tourism remains near-zero as emergency economic financing is deployed across the region. The Dominican Republic is planning its July 1 border reopening as other destinations remain closed. Guyana’s oil production continues to provide a rare bright spot in an otherwise bleak regional picture.

May 2020 sees the deepest economic crisis in Caribbean history. Nearly all hotels are closed, hundreds of thousands are unemployed, and governments are racing to deploy wage support, rent relief and mortgage deferrals. Hurricane season opens June 1 on top of the pandemic.

The Caribbean faces its deepest economic crisis as nearly all hotels remain closed, hundreds of thousands are unemployed, and the Atlantic hurricane season opens on June 1 — adding catastrophic weather risk to an already unprecedented pandemic emergency.

April 2020 marks the nadir of Caribbean economic collapse. Tourism has completely halted, WTI oil briefly went negative, T&T faces a fiscal crisis, and Guyana’s oil windfall expectations are upended. Caribbean GDP forecast to contract 10-15% in 2020.

The Caribbean faces an historic economic emergency with total tourism collapse, WTI oil prices briefly going negative on April 20, and GDP forecast to contract 10-15%. All property transactions are frozen as governments scramble with emergency food security and worker support.

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the Caribbean overnight. Borders are closing, hotels emptying, and tourism — the lifeblood of most island economies — has ground to a halt. Emergency measures are racing to protect workers and property markets.

The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, transforming the Caribbean overnight. Borders have closed across the region, hotels are emptying, and governments are scrambling to implement emergency fiscal measures as the tourism industry faces an unprecedented crisis.