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Western Hemisphere > Cuba

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Understanding Post-COVID Inflation Dynamics
Martin Harding
,
Jesper Lindé
, and
Mathias Trabandt
We propose a macroeconomic model with a nonlinear Phillips curve that has a flat slope when inflationary pressures are subdued and steepens when inflationary pressures are elevated. The nonlinear Phillips curve in our model arises due to a quasi-kinked demand schedule for goods produced by firms. Our model can jointly account for the modest decline in inflation during the Great Recession and the surge in inflation during the Post-Covid period. Because our model implies a stronger transmission of shocks when inflation is high, it generates conditional heteroskedasticity in inflation and inflation risk. Hence, our model can generate more sizeable inflation surges due to cost-push and demand shocks than a standard linearized model. Finally, our model implies that the central bank faces a more severe trade-off between inflation and output stabilization when inflation is high.
Keywords:
Inflation dynamics; inflation risk; monetary policy; linearized model; nonlinear model; real rigidities; cost-push shock; nonlinear Phillips curve; inflation-output gap trade-off; Inflation; Output gap; Central bank policy rate; Demand elasticity; Interest rate floor; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Repeated Use of IMF-Supported Programs: Determinants and Forecasting
Martin Iseringhausen
,
Ms. Mwanza Nkusu
, and
Wellian Wiranto
This paper studies the determinants of repeated use of Fund-supported programs in a large sample covering virtually all General Resources Account (GRA) arrangements that were approved between 1952 and 2012. Generally, the revolving nature of the IMF’s resources calls for the temporary sup-port of member countries to address balance of payments problems while repeated use has often been viewed as program failure. First, using probit models we show that a small number of country-specific variables such as growth, the current account balance, the international reserves position, and the institutional framework play a significant role in explaining repeated use. Second, we discuss the role of IMF-specific and program-specific variables and find evidence that a country’s track record with the Fund is a good predictor of repeated use. Finally, we conduct an out-of-sample forecasting exer-cise. While our approach has predictive power for repeated use, exact forecasting remains challenging. From a policy perspective, the results could prove useful to assess the risk IMF programs pose to the revolving nature of the Fund’s financial resources.
Keywords:
WP; explanatory variable; country; regime; IMF lending; Fund resources; GRA arrangements; program success; IMF quota; IMF support; adjustment program; lending practice; IMF arrangement; successor program; IMF-supported adjustment program; program period; IMF-supported programs consist; program failure; quota share; Current account balance; Exchange rate arrangements; Arrears; International reserves; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Revisiting the Potential Impact to the Rest of the Caribbean from Opening US-Cuba Tourism
Mr. Sebastian Acevedo Mejia
,
Mr. Trevor Serge Coleridge Alleyne
, and
Rafael Romeu
The Cuban revolution and the subsequent US embargo on Cuba helped shape the tourism sector in the Caribbean, facilitating the birth and growth of alternative destinations. Therefore, the apprehension of the Caribbean tourism industry towards a change in US travel policy to Cuba is understandable, but likely unwarranted. The history of tourism in the region has shown that it is possible for all destinations to grow despite large changes in market shares. Our estimations show that liberalizing US-Cuba tourism could result in US arrivals to Cuba of between 3 and 5.6 million, most of it coming from new tourists to the region. We also identify the destinations most at risk of changes in US-Cuba relations.
Keywords:
WP; tourist; Cuba; tourism industry; Tourism; Caribbean; Trade; Gravity model; US-Cuba relation; opening US-Cuba; tourism flow; visit Cuba; US-Cuba restriction; US-Cuba tourism; Gravity models
Cover IMF Working Papers
Gone with the Wind: Estimating Hurricane and Climate Change Costs in the Caribbean
Mr. Sebastian Acevedo Mejia
This paper studies the economic costs of hurricanes in the Caribbean by constructing a novel dataset that combines a detailed record of tropical cyclones’ characteristics with reported damages. I estimate the relation between hurricane wind speeds and damages in the Caribbean; finding that the elasticity of damages to GDP ratio with respect to maximum wind speeds is three in the case of landfalls. The data show that hurricane damages are considerably underreported, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, with average damages potentially being three times as large as the reported average of 1.6 percent of GDP per year. I document and show that hurricanes that do not make landfall also have considerable negative impacts on the Caribbean economies. Finally, I estimate that the average annual hurricane damages in the Caribbean will increase between 22 and 77 percent by the year 2100, in a global warming scenario of high CO2 concentrations and high global temperatures.
Keywords:
WP; nominal GDP; wind-damage elasticity; wind velocity; storm damage; Hurricane; tropical cyclone; climate change; climate impact; Caribbean; damages in the Caribbean; tropical cyclone damage; wind-damage function; wind-damages relation; terms tropical cyclone; Natural disasters; Greenhouse gas emissions; Renewable energy; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
The Bahamas: 2016 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for The Bahamas
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This 2016 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic growth in The Bahamas is estimated to have stalled in 2015, as a modest increase in air tourism arrivals was not sufficient to offset a contraction in domestic demand and weak exports of goods. Private consumption and investment were weighed down by headwinds from fiscal consolidation, as well as an end to construction. Inflation was moderate at 1.9 percent on average in 2015. Growth is expected to strengthen to about 0.5 percent in 2016, supported by continued growth in air tourist arrivals and moderating headwinds to private consumption and investment.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; budget communication; deficit; authority; budget projection; Bahamian authorities; further deficit reduction; goods export; Fiscal consolidation; Value-added tax; Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Working Papers
Flying to Paradise: The Role of Airlift in the Caribbean Tourism Industry
Mr. Sebastian Acevedo Mejia
,
Lu Han
,
Miss Marie S Kim
, and
Ms. Nicole Laframboise
This paper studies the role of airlift supply on the tourism sector in the Caribbean. The paper examines the relative importance of U.S.-Caribbean airlift supply factors such as the number of flights, seats, airlines, and departure cities on U.S. tourist arrivals. The possible endogeneity problem between airlift supply and tourist arrivals is addressed by using a structural panel VAR and individual country VARs. Among the four airlift supply measures, increasing the number of flights is found to be the most effective way to boost tourist arrivals on a sustained basis. As a case study, the possible crowding effect of increasing the number of U.S. flights to Cuba is investigated and, based on past observations, we find no significant impact on flights to other Caribbean countries. The impact of natural disasters on airlift supply and tourist arrivals is also quantified.
Keywords:
WP; tourist arrival; tourism industry; tourist; Caribbean; tourism; airlift supply factors; airlift supply factor; supply variable; market concentration; airlift supply data; airline industry; airlift availability; Structural vector autoregression; Natural disasters; Transportation; Unemployment rate
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
St.Vincent and the Grenadines: Staff Report for the 2011 Article IV Consultation
International Monetary Fund
This consultation paper explains that in addition to the adverse impact of the global slowdown and higher commodity prices, St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been hit by two successive natural disasters in the last 12 months. As a result, real GDP has been contracted by a cumulative 4.7 percent since 2007 and is expected to remain slightly negative this year. Growth is expected to improve gradually toward its potential, but significant downside risks remain, largely related to developments in the global economy.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; debt; GDP; present value; real GDP; core inflation; growth potential; debt service; growth in St. Vincent and the Grenadines; creating flow; private sector; sustainability framework; Public and publicly-guaranteed external debt; Fiscal stance; Caribbean; Global; North America; Northern Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Recession and Policy Transmission to Latin American Tourism: Does Expanded Travel to Cuba Offset Crisis Spillovers?
Mr. Andy M. Wolfe
and
Rafael Romeu
This study measures the impact of changing economic conditions in OECD countries on tourist arrivals to countries/destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean. A model of utility maximization across labor, consumption of goods and services at home, and consumption of tourism services across monopolistically competitive destinations abroad is presented. The model yields estimable equations arrivals as a function of OECD economic conditions and the elasticity of substitution across tourist destinations. Estimates suggest median tourism arrivals decline by at least three to five percent in response to a one percent increase in OECD unemployment, even after controlling for declines in OECD consumption and output gaps. Arrivals to individual destination are driven by differing exposure to OECD country groups sharing similar business cycle characteristics. Estimates of the elasticity of substitution suggest that tourism demand is highly price sensitive, and that a variety of costs to delivering tourism services drive market share losses in uncompetitive destinations. One recent cost change, the 2009 easing of restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba, supported a small (countercyclical) boost to Cuba’s arrivals of U.S. non-family travel, as well as a pre-existing surge in family travel (of Cuban origin). Despite the US becoming Cuba’s second highest arrival source, Cuban policymakers have significant scope for lowering the relatively high costs of family travel from the United States.
Keywords:
WP; business cycle
Cover IMF Working Papers
Vacation Over: Implications for the Caribbean of Opening U.S.-Cuba Tourism
Rafael Romeu
An opening of Cuba to U.S. tourism would represent a seismic shift in the Caribbean's tourism industry. This study models the impact of such a potential opening by estimating a counterfactual that captures the current bilateral restriction on tourism between the two countries. After controlling for natural disasters, trade agreements, and other factors, the results show that a hypothetical liberalization of Cuba-U.S. tourism would increase long-term regional arrivals. Neighboring destinations would lose the implicit protection the current restriction affords them, and Cuba would gain market share, but this would be partially offset in the short-run by the redistribution of non-U.S. tourists currently in Cuba. The results also suggest that Caribbean countries have in general not lowered their dependency on U.S. tourists, leaving them vulnerable to this potential change.
Keywords:
WP; U.S. tourist; tourism restriction; market concentration; OECD country; U.S. tourism
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Congo: Staff-Monitored Program
International Monetary Fund
This paper on the Republic of Congo’s staff-monitored program (SMP) reports that the authorities and civil society pledged to work together to make resource management more transparent. The authorities have reached understandings with IMF staff on an SMP for April-September 2007. The SMP aims at making progress toward fiscal sustainability, enhancing public financial management, and improving governance and transparency. A solid track record of policy implementation in the context of the SMP would pave the way for discussions on a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility arrangement to resume by end-2007.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; authority; oil revenue mobilization; government; marketing government oil; poverty reduction effort; management; oil revenues accounts; Congolese authorities; Oil; gas and mining taxes; Oil prices; Central Africa; Global