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Western Hemisphere > Dominica

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Eastern Caribbean Currency Union: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This Selected Issues paper on the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) focuses on efficient, sustainable, and fair pension schemes. Despite recent reform efforts, the financial sustainability of the ECCU’s defined benefit social security schemes remains under strain, largely reflecting the still relatively low contributions and generous payouts. This, coupled with a rapidly ageing population and high labor market informality, increases the need for a comprehensive review and adoption of further parametric and non-parametric reforms of the pension systems to avoid abrupt and more sizable adjustments in the future as well as to reduce the risks of old-age poverty. This annex reviews pension schemes in the ECCU, with a focus on assessing their design and performance and identifying policy options to improve their efficiency, fairness, and sustainability. Key recommendations include swift adoption of further comprehensive reforms to address design weaknesses, improving coverage, investment strategy, administrative efficiency, and transparency, and establishing automatic adjustment mechanisms.
Keywords:
NIS pension schemes Overview; labor market performance; public sector pension schemes; labor markets in the ECCU; ECCU migration; Pensions; Pension spending; Aging; Retirement; Labor markets; Caribbean; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
St. Kitts and Nevis: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This Selected Issues paper reviews anecdotal evidence on labor market conditions and discusses policy options to strengthen the labor market and support growth in St. Kitts and Nevis. The diagnosis of labor market conditions reveals challenges and opportunities in wages, productivity, and labor allocation across sectors. These include strengthening jobs and growth opportunities across sectors, enhancing the wage setting system to support competitiveness, and increasing the efficiency of the public sector. Strong institutions are needed to effectively manage public sector wages over the medium term. Several institutional arrangements can facilitate this goal including regular comparison between public and private sector wages, regular wage negotiations as opposed to ad hoc adjustments, and using medium-term wage bill forecasting to support better fiscal outcomes. Labor market and growth policies could play a key role in strengthening jobs and growth in the post-coronavirus disease era, including by leveraging sectoral linkages to provide more diversified and higher quality job opportunities, enhancing labor market policies, and increasing the efficiency of the public sector.
Keywords:
C. climate change ADAPTATION; labor market diagnosis; staff team of the International Monetary Fund; D. wage policy; Policy implication; Public sector wages; Labor markets; Wages; Employment; Caribbean; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Dominica: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
Selected Issues
Keywords:
moment Calibration summary; income distribution implication; building RESILIENCE; shadow economy estimate; B. General model description; fiscal policy experiment; Corporate income tax; Informal economy; Personal income tax; Consumption; Caribbean
Cover IMF Working Papers
Government Wage Bill Management and Civil Service Reform in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union
Mr. A. E. Wayne Mitchell
,
Ronald James
, and
Ann Marie Wickham
In this study, we assess the size of the government wage bill and employment in the member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union and their implications for fiscal sustainability and the adequacy of public service delivery. Over the period 2005 to 2015 their wage bill (as a percentage of GDP, government revenues and expenditures) is higher than in other small states notwithstanding recent efforts by governments to make it more manageable. The composition and distribution of employment is sub-optimal and is reflected in skills mismatches contributing to inefficiencies in public service delivery. Using a dynamic fixed-effects panel, we find that wage bill growth reflects the expansion of government activities to speed up economic and social development and that wage bill spending is procyclical in good times but is rigid during downturns. Finally, we identify the main institutional and legal reforms needed to improve wage bill management and public service efficiency.
Keywords:
WP; wage bill; bill management; bill indicator; bill spending; grid structure; IMF wage database; Public Wage Bill; Fiscal Sustainability; Employment; Institutional Reforms; ECCU; government wage growth; base wage; progression system; government employment; Wages; Public employment; Government wage bill; Wage adjustments; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Eastern Caribbean Currency Union: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund
The objective of this paper is to analyze the growth performance of the ECCU countries since independence and the policy challenges they face to ensure sustained growth in the period ahead. Although tourism specialization may bring about higher growth, it could also increase volatility in growth by amplifying the impact of business cycles in source countries on the tourism sector. Low productivity growth is principally the reason for the slowdown in growth. High debt levels have been a major drag on growth.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; ECCU country; GDP; ECCU Tourism; debt; Tourism competitiveness vis-á-vis; composition analysis; public debt debt ratio; public-debt-to GDP ratio; ECCU group; Tourism; Budget planning and preparation; Civil service; Caribbean; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Can the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union Afford to Grow Old?
Mr. Hunter K Monroe
The demographic transition in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) now underway is rapid compared with international experience, and emigration is playing a particularly large role. This paper describes and quantifies several factors which could magnify the challenge of pension reform. First, for some ECCU countries, continued emigration at historical rates would considerably advance the projected date at which pension scheme assets are depleted. Second, there is a significant risk that assets will underperform, given the large exposures to the highly-leveraged public sector and to a lesser extent the record with private sector investments. Third, portfolio diversification away from the public sector could be complicated by age-related pressure for greater central government health spending.
Keywords:
WP; ECCU emigration rate; rate; ECCU member; OECD census data; ECCU pension reform; Pension systems; migration; ECCU pension schemes; Pensions; Pension spending; Public sector; Health care spending; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Dominica: Seventh Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Financing Assurances Review
International Monetary Fund
This paper discusses key findings of the Seventh Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) for Dominica. Policy implementation under the program has remained strong. All end-June 2006 performance criteria were met, and all indicative targets for end-June and end-September were met with comfortable margins. Progress has been made on the structural benchmarks for the Seventh Review. Fiscal performance in FY2005/06 was commendably strong, and the FY2006/07 budget reflects a continuation of strong fiscal policies.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; authority; PRGF arrangement; completion of the review; PRGF; discussion of Dominica; commendable commitment; private sector; Debt restructuring; Value-added tax; Structural reforms; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Antigua and Barbuda: Staff Report for the 2005 Article IV Consultation
International Monetary Fund
This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that data for the first half of 2005 point to a widening fiscal deficit for Antigua and Barbuda. A combination of a reduction in capital spending and some improvement in revenues following a tightening of the concessions regime resulted in a closing of the primary deficit to 1½ percent of GDP in 2004. Revenues have performed well following the reintroduction of the personal income tax. The external current account deficit has narrowed to about 11 percent of GDP, financed by foreign direct investment.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; government; staff's GDP projection; staff appraisal; Policy development; private sector; government wish; government of Antigua and Barbuda; government hope; Arrears; Public sector; Civil service; Caribbean; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Dominica: First Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and Requests for Extension of the Arrangement and for Waiver of Performance Criteria
International Monetary Fund
A 12-month Stand-By Arrangement was approved to help Dominica deal with external shocks, rising public debt, and a prolonged economic downturn. Discussions focused on the appropriate mix between adjustment and financing. The authorities will also continue to strengthen the public sector investment program (PSIP) and the social safety net. Dominica's debt dynamics present an important challenge that will require continued fiscal efforts and exceptional financial support. In light of the proposed strengthened program and decisive ownership, the IMF staff recommends completion of the first review and extension of the arrangement.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; staff appraisal; staffs assessment; government; cash management system; approval of the budget; stand-by credit; Arrears; Fiscal stance; Debt service; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Eastern Caribbean Currency Union: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund
This Selected Issues paper analyzes the competitive threats to the tourism sector in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The paper concludes that the ECCU countries have lost competitiveness globally and vis-à-vis newly emergent Caribbean tourist destinations as a result of both price and nonprice factors. The short-term measures implemented by the countries seem to have been insufficient to prevent further declines in 2002. The paper also describes strengthening fiscal discipline through fiscal benchmarks.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; OECS country; ECCU country; government; bank; CARICOM country; ECCU member; ECCB benchmark; Pensions; Tourism; Pension spending; Commercial banks; Caribbean; West Africa; Global; South Asia