Caribbean Roundup: Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines

“We have not only been subsidising the cost of fuel at the pump, but we have also been paying West Indies Oil Company rather than collecting tax revenues from the company,” Browne said.

“I want the public to understand that we normally collect between EC$3 million and EC$4 million (US$1.11 million to US$1.48 million) monthly from WIOC on an average. So instead of collecting that EC$3 million and EC$4 million per month for the past six months, roughly EC$24 million (US$8.88 million), we now owe WIOC EC$15 million (US$5.55 million),” he added.

PM Browne said he had hoped the US-Iran war would have ended by now, but the conflict is continuing and causing instability in global petroleum prices.

Officials expected fuel prices to rise by about EC$3.50, but the government decided this increase was too high and will instead raise fuel prices by EC$2 across the board.

“That was too large an increase to be implemented in one fell swoop, so we settled on a smaller increase,” Browne said.

Gasoline will rise from EC$14.50 to EC$16.50 and diesel to EC$16.25. But despite the increase, Browne said Antigua and Barbuda’s fuel prices will remain lower than those in other Caribbean countries.

Guyana

Guyana remains one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and is also improving its debt management. According to the IDB, although the country has borrowed money for infrastructure projects, a smaller share of government income is now being used to repay debt.

The country’s debt situation has improved since oil production began. Debt payments have fallen from about 7 cents to 5 cents of every dollar the government collects.

The IDB considers Guyana a low-debt country, while The Bahamas, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago had significantly higher debt levels in 2025 than in 2019.

Guyana’s job market has improved greatly, with unemployment falling from 14.5% in 2021 to 6.8% in 2024.

The country’s population has also increased from about 700,000 to 900,000 people over the past decade.

The economy grew by an impressive 19.3% in 2025, following 43.8% growth in 2024.

While oil remains the main driver, non-oil industries are also growing, with the non-oil economy expanding 15% in 2025, up from 13% in 2024.

The IMF expects Guyana’s economy to continue growing rapidly, reaching 16.2% in 2026, 19.7% in 2027, and 22.1% in 2028. Growth is then expected to slow as oil production stabilizes, falling to 1.1% by 2031.

Haiti

Bishop Pierre-André Dumas is urging President Trump to reconsider ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in the US. More than 300,000 Haitians could be affected, while Haiti continues to face severe gang violence, poverty, and displacement.

Supporters of TPS argue that Haiti is still too dangerous for mass deportations, although the US government says conditions have improved enough for Haitians to return.

“Haiti is not a safe country” and the “Church is asking the American government to reconsider its decision,” Dumas said. “The question is: is Haiti truly a country today where someone can be safely deported? The reality provides us with a dramatic answer.”

He said he could not stay silent, so he wrote to President Trump.

“Mr. President, we respectfully ask you to reconsider the situation of Haitians affected by the suspension of Temporary Protected Status and to use all available legal and humanitarian means to prevent forced repatriations as long as Haiti remains in such a gravely unstable and dangerous situation,” he wrote. “Haitian TPS beneficiaries work, pay their taxes, raise their children, are involved in their churches and communities, and contribute daily to American society. Many of them are parents of children born in the United States and are American citizens. We are not asking the United States to abandon its own laws. We are not asking the United States to abandon the security of its borders. We are asking the United States to apply its own laws humanely when human lives are at stake.”

Jamaica

Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner to Jamaica, Deborah Thomas-Felix, says that both countries have moved past earlier trade tensions and believes that they should now focus on increasing business, investment, and access to each other’s markets to strengthen their economic relationship.

“We have a very strong relationship and I want to continue strengthening that relationship, not only in trade and culture and everything, [but] the mark that I leave should be a mark of strengthening and building the relationship that we have,” she said.

Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have faced trade tensions over market access and an imbalance in trade. In 2022, they created a mechanism to help resolve trade disputes. Despite past challenges, Jamaica’s access to the Trinidad and Tobago market increased by 170% between 2019 and 2025.

“So I would say that some of the issues before would not be issues now,” she said.

Jamaica continues to have a large trade imbalance with Trinidad and Tobago. In 2024, Jamaica exported about US$36.6 million in goods to Trinidad and Tobago, while Trinidad and Tobago exported about US$249.7 million to Jamaica.

The imbalance is partly due to Trinidad and Tobago’s strong manufacturing and energy industries.

Jamaica’s growing financial, technology, digital, professional, and tourism services could help strengthen trade with Trinidad and Tobago beyond manufactured goods.

Jamaica exports about US$5.6 billion in services globally, and Thomas-Felix is calling for more trade missions and stronger business connections.
Recent trade missions between both countries have already explored new investment and market opportunities.

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Opposition Leader Dr Ralph Gonsalves criticized the government’s decision to sell about 100 acres of land at Chatham Bay, Union Island, for EC$54 million.

The NDC supports the sale, saying the agreement will protect biodiversity while improving the country’s finances.

“The lands are to be held by a company for conservation purposes, with binding covenants included in the sale agreement to ensure that the natural environment and biodiversity of the area are protected,” the ruling party said.

Gonsalves argued that the land may be undervalued, pointing out that 15 years ago it was valued at about US$42 million (over EC$110 million), which is much higher than the current sale price of EC$54 million.

“That’s over 15 years ago and then that arrangement didn’t go through because some of the investors in respect of the resort went elsewhere,” he said, noting that another person wanted to purchase the land in order to preserve it as a national park. “I told him simply that we will not sell that as a national park. We want it for investments. In fact, the initial inland holding license which had been given to that property under the James Mitchell administration was for a small hotel development with a restaurant. Not a big investment of the type which we were envisaging with the French, Belgian and Indian (investors).”

Gonsalves added: “But this gentleman… he is a citizen of St Vincent… and I told him, no, we couldn’t sell him the land to keep it as a park. I told him that it’s 100 acres of prime land, it’s our crown jewel and I just couldn’t do that.”

The NDP said it supports the sale of Chatham Bay, noting that the area is close to several important forest reserves, including Water Rock, Large Forest, Colin Campbell, and Jack O’Dan Reserves.

The NDP said the land sale is part of the government’s effort to reduce the country’s large debt burden and blamed the previous Gonsalves-led administration for fiscal mismanagement, saying this caused the national debt to reach about 113% of GDP.