 The International Monetary Fund, IMF, is sharing its assessment of the organization of eastern Caribbean states, OECS's economy, in light of challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF explained that while the global growth forecast is projected at 6% for 2021 and 4% for 2022, poor and middle-income countries in the region are falling behind. This is due to limited policy space in these countries and the uneven distribution of vaccines. Nigel Chalk is the Deputy Director of the IMF Western Hemisphere Department. Our growth forecast for the tourism-dependent Caribbean countries is only 1.4% in 2021, far below the global levels. And then we'll pick up to 5% in 2022. Evidently, this does not reverse the calamitous contraction of last year. And many countries will not see their economies return to the pre-pandemic level until 2024 beyond, leaving them falling behind further the richer countries. Of course, there's an unusual degree of uncertainty about these forecasts. On the one hand, pent-up demand for international travel could surge later this year and be much stronger than we currently expect. However, it could also be that slower than expected vaccine rollout would delay recovery and cause more persistent scarring. There's a good chance the pandemic's economic shadow will be felt in the region long after the public health emergency has waned. Chalk suggested key policies to overcome the current economic challenges and build future economic resilience. There's a need to maintain fiscal support in the near term and shift resources to critical COVID-related spending. There's a need to strengthen regional and national fiscal frameworks to safeguard the credibility of the regional debt anchor. Financial institutions capacity to weather the near-term pandemic and prepare to be strengthened and comprehensive crisis management plans should be put in place in case things go awry. And reserves, international reserves need to be kept to the robust level. The International Monetary Fund has pledged assistance to its members in overcoming the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. It plans to disburse a special asset reserve SDR of $650 billion to its members, including the OECS region. As you may know, the IMF is working on a potential SDR allocation of $650 billion to its members. Once approved, that allocation will benefit all IMF members by boosting their reserves, and it will do so without adding to debt burdens. This would mean around $127 million in new resources for the OECS region alone. Members of their liquidity constraint will be able to use those resources to smooth out their post-pandemic realignment of policies. But they can also provide a buffer to use for vaccines today or for future crisis response or to build reserves. While the allocations will be in line with each member's quota shares at the IMF, we're encouraging those countries with strong external positions to reallocate part of their holdings on a voluntary basis to the benefit of other vulnerable countries, including in the region. Nigel Choq, Deputy Director of the IMF Western Hemisphere Department, speaking there at the OECS Assemblies of Fifth sitting.