The debt to GDP ratio in Suriname increased by 35.6 percentage points in 3 years, moving from 29% of its GDP in 2014 to 64.6% in 2016. It’s the largest increase in a debt ratio recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) over the period. Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and Brazil were the only other countries that experienced double digit increases over the same … [Read more...] about Suriname’s Debt Surge: What’s Driving It?
Suriname
Building Sustainable Cities in the Caribbean: 3 lessons from Paramaribo
By Luis Schloeter Climate change is considered one of the main challenges for development. The scientific community has reiterated that anthropogenic climate change - caused by human activities (eg urban transport, energy production, etc.) - has been occurring over the last century, increasing the temperature of the earth, and consequently the probability and intensity of … [Read more...] about Building Sustainable Cities in the Caribbean: 3 lessons from Paramaribo
Improving Rural Electrification in Suriname
For decades, a high-voltage transmission line has passed through the Amerindian village of Powakka, located in the district of Para in Suriname, without benefiting the community. The 161kV transmission line transports to Paramaribo the electricity generated by the Afobaka Hydropower Plant, historically the country’s main source of electricity. However, the village never had a … [Read more...] about Improving Rural Electrification in Suriname
Greening Suriname : A Promising Opportunity
Suriname is located within the Guiana Shield, a region that encompasses one of the areas with the highest biodiversity in the world and contains large extensions of uninterrupted and intact primary tropical forest. Due to its huge capacity to absorb CO2, the region plays an important role in global climate stability. More than 94% of the country’s surface is covered by … [Read more...] about Greening Suriname : A Promising Opportunity
The Dark Side of Debt
The Caribbean is often described using the moniker “high debt, low growth,” yet this has not truly been the case until recently. The Caribbean Economic Team’s Quarterly Regional Bulletin contends that debt is or is forecasted to become too high in the Caribbean—perhaps crossing into the “dark side.” The Caribbean debt benchmark, used to judge whether debt is too high, is … [Read more...] about The Dark Side of Debt