Dear Editor,

Your article of December 30, “2009: An ‘Annus horribilis’ for the Caribbean”, cites Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington’s views of International Monetary Fund policies. We would like to offer a different perspective with regards to the IMF’s involvement in the Caribbean region. Specifically:

* All 14 Caricom members that are also IMF members benefited from the allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) approved last August. In total, Caricom countries received about US$1.5 billion, representing an increase of over 10 per cent in their combined net international reserves, an important boost in liquidity for the Caribbean.

* The Fund has been active in lending in the region, providing financial assistance to seven Caricom countries (Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines), as well as the Dominican Republic. In addition, Jamaica recently reached broad agreement with IMF staff on the key elements of a programme that would be supported by a loan. Antigua and Barbuda is also currently in discussions with the Fund on a loan. Both programmes will help these economies weather the storm of the global financial crisis.

* In most of the recently approved arrangements, the Fund has made sure that social spending is increased, protected, or refocused, to shield the most vulnerable from the consequences of the global crisis. These so-called “social conditionalities” are part of our current discussions with Jamaica, for example.

* Debt relief also continues. The Fund completed in June the process of writing off about US$1.2 billion of Haiti’s multilateral debt, and has greatly expanded concessional lending to that country.

* The Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (Cartac) has been active since 2001, providing important training tailored to each country’s needs.

* More generally, the

Fund overhauled its

lending framework, including streamlining conditionalities and enhancing the flexibility of its lending, including to low-income countries. Specifically, lending capacity to low-income countries was boosted to US$8 billion in 2009-10, from US$1.2 billion in 2008.

Overall, the Fund has risen to the challenge of the “Great Recession”, stepping up its lending, and reforming its credit lines under a new and broader mandate from the Group of 20 countries. We have been busy making sure that the Caribbean, as well as all our member countries, benefit from these efforts as we continue to provide advice and lending.

Caroline Atkinson

Director, External Relations Department

International Monetary Fund

Washington DC, USA