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Asokore Beckles

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Asokore Beckles

Economist. Builder. Caribbean Leader.

Writing

Latest Thinking.

Essays and short commentary on Caribbean economies, fiscal policy, and data-led development.

Fiscal Monitor · Issue No. 01

Caribbean public debt, on one page.

May 2026 issue

Refreshes with the IMF WEO

CC BY 4.0 · Free to cite

Regional median
74.0%

Debt to GDP across all 11 reported economies.

Highest burden
113.0%

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Latest 2025 figures.

Below the 60% benchmark
2 of 11

Saint Kitts and Nevis. Guyana. The rest sit above the ECCU anchor.

This issue

Nine of eleven CARICOM economies tracked here sit above the 60% ECCU benchmark. Barbados has taken 15.6 points off its debt burden in two years. Guyana’s oil-adjusted position stays a regional outlier. The three highest bars in the chart below all come from small-island economies still absorbing the fiscal weight of the pandemic and the 2024 hurricane season.

Public debt to GDP · latest reported year

  • Above 60% benchmark
  • At or below
  • 60% ECCU anchor
60% BENCHMARK30%60%90%120%Saint Vincent and the Grenadines113.0%Dominica108.2%Barbados102.5%Grenada75.0%Saint Lucia74.5%The Bahamas74.0%Antigua and Barbuda68.3%Trinidad and Tobago67.8%Jamaica65.8%Saint Kitts and Nevis58.4%Guyana27.6%

Sources: IMF WEO April 2026 · Article IV 2025–2026 · CDB CERO 2025–2026

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11 of 11 economies populated

As featured in & with

  • Nation News
  • Barbados Today
  • Loop News Caribbean
  • Caribbean Congress of Labour
  • UWI Cave Hill

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