CARICOM to tackle global economic crisis

The Prime Ministers of Antigua, the Bahamas and Belize, have pledged to push regional banks to provide more loans to builders and exporters, to boost jobs and trade, in an effort to counter the world economic crisis.



The Bahamian leader Hubert Ingraham said countries would have to make adjustments to weather the downturn.



The financial crisis is fuelling unemployment across the region, which relies heavily on tourism, foreign direct investments and remittances, all of which are plummeting.



Several governments have already announced plans to cut social spending programmes, as the crisis threatens to reverse years of economic gains.