A MIXED ECONOMIC PICTURE has been painted of Barbados and its Caribbean neighbours as a possible economic storm appears on the horizon.

The Economist, Britain's leading weekly news publication, said in its current edition Barbados was "prosperous", Trinidad and Tobago "gas rich", Haiti dirt-poor, and The Bahamas and Jamaica which rely on American tourists are keeping their fingers crossed as they ponder the effects of the American economic recession on tourism.

At the same time, the Dominican Republic must do with less revenue from falling exports, Jamaica is being forced to face a drop in earnings from alumina, and most of their neighbours which rely on remittances to boost their economies may be in danger of reduced foreign currency because of United States economic woes.

The publication also warned about a possible return of the International Monetary Fund to the Caribbean.

"The worry for the countries lining up for Venezuelan help
is that Petroleous de Venezuela, the state oil company, may
be unable to maintain oil shipments indefinitely,"
the publication stated.

"The only shelter from this brewing storm is a rickety one:
a scheme known as PetroCaribe under which Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, provides oil to 15 Caribbean and Central American countries on easy terms," it stated.

The trouble is that Chavez is becoming increasingly unpopular at home, and that could be bad news for Cuba and PetroCaribe. Cuba gets about US$2 billion in subsidies from Venezuela every year and while it is not in the same boat as other Caribbean nations when it comes to dependence on the United States economy, Havana shares a Caribbean predicament: it imports much of its food.
(TB)