Caribbean Quarterly Bulletin: Volume 9: Issue 1, April 2020

This special edition of the Caribbean Quarterly Bulletin focuses on the evolving economic and human consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak for countries in the Caribbean region. Our team of economists based in countries across the region has been working to assess the situation and advise senior management of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and stakeholders from member countries about the potential implications of the shock and policy responses best suited to mitigate its effects. First and foremost, the focus is on reducing the human impact of the crisis. Lives are at stake, but that said, so are livelihoods. As a result, it is important to try to understand the economic forces at work in order to think through appropriate policy responses.