TOA ALTA, Puerto Rico — A man rides his bicycle through a damaged road in Toa Alta, west of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on September 24, 2017, following the passage of Hurricane Maria. The regional insurer said of the US$119 million disbursed to the Caribbean over the last 10 years, approximately US$62 million was disbursed to seven countries during the 2017 hurricane season. (Photo: AFP)
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Director of Projects at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Daniel Best says between 2007 and September 2017, Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) disbursed approximately US$119 million to Caribbean countries.
Of that amount, approximately US$62 million was disbursed to seven countries during the 2017 hurricane season.
According to Best, the funds are being used by governments to finance the rebuilding of critical infrastructure.
“The CCRIF is now regarded as a cost-effective way to pre-finance short-term liquidity so that recovery efforts can get underway quickly,” he said of the facility that offers Caribbean states a shield against extreme weather through the purchase of catastrophe risk insurance at 40 to 50 per cent less than the cost they would incur, had they approached the insurance market individually.
However, he said that as the CCRIF enters its second decade of operations, additional financing and capital injection are required to support growth and to facilitate scaling up, in terms of offering new products and increasing coverage levels.
Moreover, currently CCRIF covers only about 2.5 per cent of the recommended 25 per cent coverage of the overall government exposure to earthquake and hurricane risks (excluding excess rainfall).
“This limited coverage is constrained purely by the amount of premium that the borrowing member country can afford,” Best explained.
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