Recognizing that the global financial and economic crisis has been affecting several countries within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and generating serious social consequences, President Bharrat Jagdeo stated yesterday that he, as Chairman of the task force established to find solutions to the crisis, had been working actively over the past two weeks.

At the recently concluded 30th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference held in Guyana, the leaders had taken the bold step of establishing this first ever regional Task Force of a political nature.

The Task Force comprises Prime Ministers Patrick Manning of Trinidad & Tobago, Bruce Golding of Jamaica, Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, David Thompson of Barbados and President Jagdeo.

Additional technical members of the Task Force include the CARICOM Secretary-General; President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); Director-General of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); and the Director of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance (CCMF).

The Head of State explained that he plans to meet with the technical members of the task force within the next week and to meet with the other leaders a week after.

He explained that it is recognized that this is an emergency and action must be taken urgently.

The President explained that Jamaica has lost 60% of its merchandise exports, Dominica has to secure an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund recently, and Antigua and Barbuda, where the Stanford Group of Companies was based, has lost over 1,000 jobs which for a country of just over 100,000 people is a major setback.

The Head of State noted that several countries within the region rely on services to generate their tax revenues and provide employment for their citizens, especially in the areas of financial services and tourism.

The global crisis has had a severe impact on these two sectors, especially financial services which have been affected by the Madoff and Stanford scandals, and the general collapse of the financial industry around the world.

Added to this, the G-20 group of countries has agreed to tough new offshore banking regulations that, if implemented, will add to the difficulties faced by the industry in the Caribbean.

In tourism, President Jagdeo explained that people who usually travel to the Caribbean for vacations from Europe, Asia and the United States have less disposable income and cannot afford to visit the Caribbean in the numbers needed to maintain the sector.

Also, the decision by the UK Government to implement the Air Passenger Duty (APD) that would add US$1,000 to the fare of a family of four travelling to the Caribbean will have a negative impact on the industry.

In Guyana, the Head of State stressed that complacency must be avoided. He explained that while Government has been able to maintain spending, especially on social services, Guyana has not been unaffected.

He pointed out that the real sector has been under stress with demand for export commodities falling worldwide. This has severely impacted on bauxite production and has affected the construction industry.

He declared that the construction momentum has slowed with projects including hydropower, the aluminum smelter and the Marriott hotel being derailed because financing could not be sourced.

However, he stressed that his Administration’s proper stewardship of the economy has seen Guyana withstanding the worst of the global crisis in much better shape that several of its CARICOM brothers. (GINA)