On August 14, 2021, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, gravely affecting the Departments of Sud, Grand'Anse, and Nippes. More than 2,200 people were killed, and houses, healthcare facilities and schools were destroyed. Rescue and relief responses were hampered by blocked roads, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the same area the very next day and subsequent aftershocks. … [Read more...] about Estimating the Potential Economic Impact of Haiti’s 2021 Earthquake
Laura Giles Álvarez
Laura Giles Álvarez is the Country Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Colombia, having previously worked as a Country Economist in Haiti, Barbados, and The Bahamas. Laura started her career at the IDB as a young professional in the Social Protection and Health Division and the Economics Team at the Caribbean Country Department. Before joining the IDB, Laura worked as a public financial management consultant, where she designed and executed projects on macro-fiscal policy, expenditure management, and the budget cycle in Kenya, Mozambique, Timor Leste, and Angola. Additionally, she served as an ODI Fellow in the fiscal team within the Macroeconomic Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance in Timor Leste. Laura holds a double master's degree in economic development from the University of Carlos III, Madrid, and Lund University.
Financial Literacy in the Caribbean: The Case of Barbados
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed households’ financial fragility. Prior to the pandemic, six out of ten people in Latin America and the Caribbean reported they lack the resources to cover an emergency, and among the poorest quintile, the figure was only two out of ten. As in the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 has revealed the need to advance a policy agenda aimed at … [Read more...] about Financial Literacy in the Caribbean: The Case of Barbados