Narrow Your Choices

Refine By Topic

Refine By Series

Refine By Language

Refine By Date

—

Refine By IMF Taxonomy

Refine By JEL Taxonomy

Refine by LOC Taxonomy

Refine By THEMA Taxonomy

  • Print
  • Save

Western Hemisphere > Belize

You are looking at 1 - 5 of 5 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
Clear All Modify Search
Cover IMF Working Papers
Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals in Small Developing States with Climate Vulnerabilities: Cost and Financing
Johanna Tiedemann
,
Veronica Piatkov
,
Dinar Prihardini
,
Juan Carlos Benitez
, and
Ms. Aleksandra Zdzienicka
Small Developing States (SDS) face substantial challenges in achieving sustainable development. Many of these challenges relate to the small size and limited diversification of their economies. SDS are also among the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change and natural disasters. Meeting SDS sustainable development goals goes hand-in-hand with building their climate resilience. But the additional costs to meet development and resilience objectives are substantial and difficult to finance. This work adapts the IMF SDG Costing methodology to capture the unique characteristics and challenges of climate-vulnerable SDS. It also zooms into financing options, estimating domestic tax potential and discussing the possibility of accessing ‘climate funds.’
Keywords:
Sustainable Development; Climate Resilience; Small Developing States.; WP; development goal; face difficulty; Growth-Climate Nexus; income group; Small Developing States; borrowing space; financial support; concentrate effort; face exposure; sectoral plan; private sector investment; Infrastructure; Income; Climate change; Global; Caribbean; East Africa; Middle East; North Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belize: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This Selected Issues paper provides an overview of Belize’s tourism sector and main achievements and discusses the country’s comparative advantages and bottlenecks in tourism. It also analyzes the impact of structural and institutional reforms on tourist arrivals. The outturns in tourism have significantly exceeded targets set in the authorities’ National Sustainable Tourism Masterplan (NSTMP). The implementation of the NSTMP reforms has supported the tourism sector’s expansion. In order to guide the development of the tourism sector, the NSTMP 2011 proposes reforms and targets to propel Belize into an internationally recognized tourist destination by 2030. The emergence of the shared economy business model has also brought new challenges, in addition to opportunities. The benefits of the peer-to-peer accommodation available to customers on digital platforms include the expansion of tourism product, service, and sector offerings; improved access to market; and opportunities for income generation. It is imperative that reforms in the near term should focus on addressing the impact of recurring natural hazards, infrastructure bottlenecks, fortifying the institutional and governance framework, reducing crime, and mitigating concerns relating to the shared economy.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Belize; firm; tourism sector; loss-making firm; cruise tourism expenditure; EPZ company; company need; tourism indicators performance; Corporate income tax; Tourism; Income and capital gains taxes; Income tax systems; Consumption taxes; Caribbean; Global; Central America
Cover IMF Working Papers
Reinvigorating Growth in Belize
Dmitry Vasilyev
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Belize grew faster than its regional peers. By the mid-2000s, however, economic growth had slowed down to the regional average. A vicious circle of low growth and increasing public debt has been clouding Belize’s outlook. This paper applies a growth diagnostic approach based on the Hausmann-Rodrik-Velasco framework to investigate the main growth constraints and opportunities for higher growth in Belize. Improvements in access to finance and in the business climate could unlock Belize’s strengths.
Keywords:
WP; Belize; economy; cost; goods export; growth diagnostics; development policies; structural transformation; peer economy; growth performance; export diversification index; Belize's growth; diversification indicator; tourism industry; Total factor productivity; Income; Tourism; Caribbean; Central America
Cover IMF Working Papers
National Insurance Scheme Reforms in the Caribbean
Koffie Ben Nassar
,
Mr. Joel Chiedu Okwuokei
,
Mike Li
,
Timothy Robinson
, and
Mr. Saji Thomas
Weighed down by population aging, slow economic growth, and high unemployment, National Insurance Schemes in the Caribbean are projected to run substantial deficits and deplete their assets in the next decades, raising the prospects of government intervention. With the region highly indebted, this paper quantifies the impact of three parametric reforms—freezing pension benefits for two years, raising the retirement age and increasing the contribution rate by one percentage point—that, if implemented, would put the pension schemes on a stronger financial footing. While the appropriate combination of reforms necessary to eliminate the actuarial deficits varies depending on each country’s circumstances, most countries need to undertake reforms now or risk even higher taxes, lower growth and unsustainable debt dynamics.
Keywords:
WP; retirement age; pension scheme; Jamaica; economic growth; rate; Social Security; Old Age Pensions; Public Debt; Contingent Liabilities; contribution rate; NIS viability; Jamaica NIS; contribution income; Pensions; Pension spending; Aging; Retirement; Income; Caribbean; Asia and Pacific; Europe; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Saving in Latin America and the Caribbean: Performance and Policies
Mr. Francesco Grigoli
,
Alexander Herman
, and
Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel
This paper analyzes saving patterns and determinants in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), including key policy variables and regimes. The review of previous empirical studies on LAC saving reveals contradictions and omissions. This paper presents empirical results of an extensive search of determinants of private and public saving rates, adding previously neglected variables (including different measures of key external prices and macroeconomic policy regimes), in linear form and in interactions with other saving determinants. It analyzes statistical differences in saving determinants between LAC and the rest of the world in a nested econometric framework, and discusses differences across three country subgroups within LAC. The results highlight commonalities and differences in saving behavior between LAC and other world regions, as well as within LAC, identifying the role of key policy variables and regimes.
Keywords:
WP; growth rate; LAC subgroup; private sector; consumption; private saving; public saving; Latin America; saving rate; LAC saving; saving effect; saving determinant; oil exporter; standard deviation; LAC oil exporter; discount factor raise saving; household saving; LAC dummy; Private savings; Technology transfer; Fiscal rules; Inflation targeting; Income; Middle East and Central Asia; Asia and Pacific; Europe