Good Wednesday, Caribbean. The World Bank has issued its regional economic update and the news is, as the Bank likes to say, “mixed.” Translation: some of you are fine, some of you are not, and Guyana is in a different report entirely.

THE NUMBERS

The World Bank projects 2.1 percent growth for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2026, down from 2.4 percent last year. Highlights for the region:

  • Barbados: 2.7 percent this year, 3.0 next. Solid.
  • Jamaica: minus one percent this year, 3.2 percent next. This is the economic equivalent of a bad quarter being followed by optimism about the next quarter, which is what economists say when they have nothing more useful to offer.
  • Guyana: 16.3 percent this year. 23.5 percent in 2027. We’ve mentioned this. We’re not going to stop mentioning it.
  • T&T: Not in the headlines on growth, but very much in the headlines on gas.

TRINIDAD GOING TO VENEZUELA TO GET ITS GAS BACK

PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced at a fire tender handover in Penal that a delegation is heading to Venezuela to ensure T&T gets its “just share” of oil and gas it partly owns through the NGC. This is a diplomatic mission with real economic stakes. T&T’s gas sector may get a meaningful boost from 2027 if upstream cooperation solidifies. There is a lot of “if” in that sentence, but the direction of travel is the right one.

CARIFTA: THE CHILDREN PERFORMED

The 53rd Carifta Games wrapped in Grenada. T&T’s Jenna Marie Thomas broke the national junior record in the Girls 100m Hurdles — 13.67 seconds, down from 13.80 set in 2014. Guyana’s Under-16 boys clinched their bilateral cricket series. The region’s youth athletes continue to perform regardless of what macroeconomic conditions the adults have created for them.

JAMAICA: STUDENTS, SHELTERS, AND A SOLDIER

The Ministry of Education is investigating reports that students are being exposed to sexual activity by persons living in school shelters. A JDF soldier has been charged with murdering his girlfriend; his first court appearance was delayed to Friday.

The NWC eased water restrictions in the Constant Spring network. Small mercy.

BARBADOS: QUIET AND GROWING

Barbados is getting a non-stop Air Canada flight. Barbados is growing at 2.7 percent. Barbados does not have a viral video of a police officer threatening to kill anyone this week. It is a Wednesday in Barbados and things are, relatively speaking, fine.

REGION-WIDE: CARICOM SECRETARY GENERAL DRAMA CONTINUES

PM Kamla has again criticized the process by which CARICOM reappointed Dr. Carla Barnett as Secretary General. Guyana signed MoUs with St Kitts. The Afreximbank approved US$10 billion to shield CARICOM and Africa from the Gulf energy crisis. Regional institutions continue to function at the level that regional institutions function.

Caribbean Daily Brief. Because someone has to read all of this so you don’t have to.