Debt relief, resilience fund sought for Caribbean nations

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will propose a plan for debt relief and the development of a regional resilience fund for Caribbean nations this week at the Third International Conference on Finance for Development meeting in Ethiopia, ECLAC said on Monday.

The debt relief would be taken from multilateral credit institutions, and the subregional resilience fund would assist the area’s social and economic progress, and help the region align with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are to be approved in New York City in September.

ECLAC recommendations have said the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) must maintain an agreement with the Caribbean Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to gain a gradual write-off for the region’s total multilateral external public debt. These funds previously were allocated to recovery measures due to natural disasters from 1990 to 2014.

Beneficiary countries could then make annual payments to a resilience fund dedicated to the Caribbean. The fund would be under the management of the Caribbean Development Bank. The main purpose is to fund climate-change adaptation, begin mitigation measurements, address natural disasters and improve social development.

Alicia Barcena, ECLAC's executive secretary, will present the proposal at the conference.