Minimal Caribbean growth expected
The World Bank has said it could lend up to $14 billion to Latin American and Caribbean countries in the fiscal year that began this month. The sum matches last year’s record and is nearly three times the historical average.

The bank’s vice-president for Latin America Pamela Cox said the unusually large sum was directly linked to the global financial crisis, which has shut many countries off from international markets.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has predicted that the region as a whole should grow 3.1 percent next year, following the 1.9 percent contraction it has forecast for this year. By itself, the English-speaking Caribbean should expand by just 0.5 percent in 2010, ECLAC said.

Insurance mergers forecast
A senior Caribbean insurance executive is predicting a new series of consolidations in the industry, particularly if governments can make progress on regulatory reform.

Changes in the way the industry is run are expected in the wake of the financial troubles of Clico, the Trinidad-based regional financial services company.

Douglas Camacho, who heads the Insurance Association of the Caribbean, has been giving his assessment to the Chile-based Business News Americas. He told the agency that if governments take up the challenge of mandating tougher corporate governance practices, there will likely be greater demand for insurance mergers and acquisitions.

Brown talks migration and skills
British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has acknowledged that the issue of foreign workers taking jobs in the UK is a sensitive one but believes the government has the balance right. Appearing before a parliamentary Committee, Brown said he believed the number of people coming into the country to work would be less this year as a result of the changes the government had made.