The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV Consultation with St. Kitts and Nevis, on March 15th, 2023.

Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the Fund holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

Based on the report from the IMF issued on March 31st 2023, “St. Kitts and Nevis’ economic growth rebounded strongly in 2022 despite global headwinds. GDP is estimated to have grown by 9 percent in 2022 after contracting 14.5 percent in 2020 and 0.9 percent in 2021. The lifting of all COVID-related travel restrictions in August 2022 sparked a strong rebound in the tourism sector and across the economy.”

The report included “the authorities’ proactive policy response, facilitated by the fiscal buffers accumulated from a decade of prudent fiscal policy, helped shelter domestic prices from high global energy and food prices. These measures nonetheless took a heavy toll on fiscal accounts in 2022.” Furthermore, “the primary balance ex-CBI revenue and land buybacks, deteriorated to a deficit of 17 percent of GDP (vs. 15 percent in 2021). Large CBI inflows in 2022 helped finance this expansion, keeping public debt below the ECCU regional target of 60 percent of the GDP.”