Anguilla
An International Monetary Fund team that visited Anguilla last month announced that the territory should rebalance its fiscal policy
to “create an environment more conducive to private sector growth and job creation.” In a written statement after the visit, the IMF said that the territory’s small size “magnified the boom and bust cycle associated with the global crisis.” The Anguilla government is planning to reform its tax system, but “some reversal of increases in the government wage bill, which doubled during the boom years, may be unavoidable,” the team warned. The team called Anguilla’s economic growth outlook “cautious” given low capital spending and the recent closure of a boutique hotel and a call centre. However, two tourism developments that stalled as a result of the crisis – the Temenos Resort and the Viceroy Anguilla Resort and Residences – appear to be back on track, according to the team.
Haiti
The Haitian government will receive a $35 million grant to modernise the country’s electricity system and improve the state-owned electricity company, a regional development bank said. The Inter-American Bank announced that the grant will be used by Eléctricité d’Haïti to rebuild a hydroelectric plant and upgrade the country’s power grid. Currently, about 70 percent of Haitians do not have access to electricity. Those who do have service for only some of the day and often suffer outages, according to the IDB.