Bleak outlook

The Economist Intelligence Unit, a respected think tank, says economic conditions in the Caribbean may deteriorate further before they improve.

It’s outlined a bleak but not unfamiliar list of economic indicators in the region. Tourism performance is weak, remittances are not picking up, consumers are borrowing and spending less, unemployment is rising and government budget deficits are widening.

Given these dynamics, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) estimates recessions in 2009 in all countries in the English-speaking Caribbean with the exception of Dominica.

That’s because Dominica has a relatively low reliance on tourism and is enjoying a construction boom thanks to fiscal stimulus measures funded mainly by donor aid.

In 2010, the EIU says growth will remain negative in some countries and even in those that begin to recover expansion will be very weak.

Smoking ban put back

Smokers in the Cayman Islands have two more months to light up in bars and restaurants. Health Minister Mark Scotland says a law that bans smoking in enclosed public spaces won’t take effect until 31 December. It had been set for Friday. Scotland said the government needs more time to wrap up administrative details and to finish writing regulations. The law will ban smoking within three metres or 10 feet from the main entrance of public buildings.

The Cayman Islands enacted a smoking ban in government offices in the early 1990s.

Voodoo’s day of the dead festival

Haitians flocked to cemeteries carrying rum, candles and hopes for a better future on Sunday, kicking off Voodoo’s two-day festival of the dead.

In Port au Prince, Haiti revellers clamoured for a spot atop the oldest grave at the National Cemetery, which tradition holds is home to the spirit Baron Samedi, the guardian of the dead.