This report deals with the financing for development challenges in Caribbean countries which are in the World Bank Caribbean Small States Programme. They include not only island countries but also the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana and Suriname.

Caribbean SIDS have higher levels of per capita income and rank more highly on the human development index than most other SIDS. They nonetheless share many development challenges with other countries due characteristics such as small size, small populations, limited resources, remoteness from international markets, diseconomies of scale, foreign trade dependence, vulnerability to external economic shocks and natural hazards.