The issue of some Caribbean Community (Caricom) states being placed on a financial haven “blacklist” was discussed with the Head of the World Bank when President Bharrat Jagdeo met him recently.
President Jagdeo met World Bank President Robert Zoellick in Istanbul, Turkey recently and told reporters at the International Conference Centre on Monday that they spoke largely on Caricom-related issues. He said he advocated strongly for more immediate financing for those countries that have suffered as a result of the financial crisis. He noted that many Caribbean states are reeling from the loss of revenue and employment and a general economic dislocation because of the global crisis. “I also spoke about the need to ensure that these countries had some form of multilateral debt relief,” Jagdeo said.
“I also spoke about the impact of the OECD and the G20 classification of many of our jurisdictions as countries that may be financial tax havens and that would encourage the avoidance of taxes on the part of investors from the developed world,” he added. Several Caribbean countries including some member states of Caricom are reportedly regarded by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Develop-ment (OECD) as uncooperative offshore tax havens and are facing mounting pressure from G20 member states to comply with robust anti-tax haven regulations. The Baha-mas has become the latest Caribbean offshore financial jurisdiction to feel the effects of the crackdown by rich countries following the recent publication by the OECD of a so-called grey list of countries that serve as tax havens.
“It we don’t address this situation quickly we will see the region suffer even greater consequences because we have done a diversion of financial flows from this region to other regions of the world,” Jagdeo stated noting that many Caribbean countries have major offshore financial sectors. “I emphasized this point with the president of the World Bank and he has promised to work with us to ensure that these smaller countries have a fair shake in the OECD review of those countries that find themselves on this grey or blacklist,” the President stated, asserting that the meeting went extremely well.
He said debt relief was also discussed and work will continue on this issue. The President stated that a follow-up meeting early next year was agreed to, to review the advancements made.
