By Brian Ellsworth

MIAMI (Reuters] – To help the Caribbean recover from the pandemic and deal with climate change’s growing effects, the United States must increase funding and assistance to it. This was stated by Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda Prime minister.

Browne stated that countries in the region have unsustainable debt levels, often exceeding 100% of their gross domestic product (GDP). He also said that many are reliant on Chinese loans due to the favorable terms provided by Chinese banks.

In a Tuesday telephone interview, he stated that the U.S. must pay closer attention to the Caribbean in order to sustain our standard of living and prevent mass movements of people.

“People who are not able to live in (Caribbean), nations will end up arriving on American shores as refugees.”

According to data compiled by Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue (Washington), China has loaned more than $4 billion to Caribbean countries in the past 10 years. Much of this money has been used to fund infrastructure development.

Browne explained that these loans have conditions more favorable than multilateral agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund. He added that borrowing from Chinese bank should not be taken as a political statement.

The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.

According to IMF figures, the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the Caribbean. In fact, last year the IMF reported that the economies of tourism-dependent countries saw theirs shrink by 9.8% for 2020.

Multilateral agencies often classify many as high- or middle-income countries based only on their per-capita GDP. This does not account for the increased costs of small islands or their vulnerability to climate changes.

Browne explained that the Caribbean could benefit greatly from U.S. continued support in changing these criteria.

Browne added that the United States “would use its influence over the multilateral financial institutions to effect this change”, but that there was no evidence of it.

He said that the vast majority of $336 million of U.S. assistance to Caribbean Community members, known as Caricom, is sent to Haiti. Only $70 million of this aid goes to 13 countries. They have an estimated population of 7.5million.

Browne explained that it was “miniscule.”

Antigua and Barbuda is a country of 2 main islands as well as several small ones located in the northeastern Caribbean. It has faced increasing expenses due to extreme weather events, just like many other countries within the region.

Barbuda was ravaged by Hurricane Irma 2017 which left all buildings inaccessible and forced the evacuation of nearly all inhabitants for almost 18 months. It cost more than $200 million to rebuild.

Browne stated that Antigua and Barbuda borne most of these costs but received only $169,000 from the United States for aid in 2019.