accounted for 38 per cent of regional gdp and our per capita income is about us $ 19, 000 compared with an average of us $ 8, 900 for the other caricom territories. the bahamas and barbados have higher per capita incomes. as we all know, the entire region was affected by global recession, some countries more than others. in 2009 – 2010, economic activity in the oecs declined by a cumulative 9 per cent. in barbados and jamaica, the cumulative decline was about one - half this amount – about 5 per cent. in these countries, the main contributing factors were the sharp fall in tourist arrivals and workers ’ remittances. the oecs were further affected by the impact of the clf / clico crisis ( in fact, it was baico ) and the devastation caused by hurricane tomas, particularly in st lucia and st vincent and the grenadines. bis central bankers ’ speeches ( the region remained in crisis in 2011. while there has been some improvement in tourist arrivals, the oecs saw another year of economic decline, albeit at a reduced rate. jamaica and barbados both reported the start of a very weak recovery ). in trinidad and tobago real gdp is estimated to have declined by 3 per cent in 2009 remained flat in 2010 and declined again in 2011 ( by just over 1 per cent ). i should note that guyana and suriname were the only two countries in the region that emerged unscathed, largely because of their gold resources which benefited from rising international prices. trinidad and tobago ’ s more resilient economic performance, relative to its neighbours, owes much to our energy resources and to the entrepreneurial dynamism of our private sector. these endowments are reflected, inter alia, in our stronger government finances, lower public debt, more robust foreign reserve positions, and in our dominance in regional trade. the following summary statistics paint the picture. regional governments have run fiscal deficits each year since 2000, while trinidad and tobago has run fiscal surpluses for all but two years, over the same period. the caricom region boasts of having among the most highly - indebted countries in the world, with public debt averaging around 70 per cent of gdp ( jamaica, grenada and st kitts and nevis have debt ratios of over 100 per cent of gdp ). in contrast, trinidad and tobago has a public debt ratio of 38 per cent of gdp. the relative fiscal and public debt performance are part of the story that

the rate of price increase for e. g. owner - occupied flats in copenhagen has been around 10 per cent for several years, and many buyers seem to expect that prices will continue to rise. it goes without saying that price increases on the scale seen in copenhagen in recent years are not sustainable in the longer term. during previous upswings, the housing market has been a source of macroeconomic instability and overheating of the economy. this was particularly true during the upswing in the 2000s. a contributory factor was the absence of sufficient automatic stabilisers in the structure of housing taxes. the current housing tax rules have also led to a considerable geographical spread in the rate of taxation – by which i mean the tax payable relative to the value of the property. in the danish mortgage credit system, everyone has access to loans if they can pledge sufficient collateral. marginal lending is typically provided by the banks. but there is reason to exert caution in this respect. in many cases it would be prudent for the banks to require a considerably larger bis central bankers ’ speeches down payment than the 5 per cent of the purchase price that will be included in the rules on good practice for financial enterprises from 1 november. more equity among the households will strengthen their resilience and the robustness of the financial sector. * * * it is important that you do not go right to the statutory limits, but only grant loans if you assess them to be sound. easier access to credit should not be a competitive parameter. for example, a variable rate mortgage loan should not mechanically be granted, even though the borrower meets the “ good practice ” requirements and can be approved for a 30 - year fixed rate loan with amortisation. at present this means a fixed rate of around 3 per cent. that is very low, and the variable rate may soon rise to a higher level. this should be taken into account when approving a borrower. if it is assessed that the customer may have problems servicing the loan if interest rates rise to a considerably higher level, a fixed rate loan should be granted. even when this is not required in order to observe the “ good practice ” requirements. total lending by danish banks and mortgage banks has been virtually unchanged over the last year. but the level is high, also when viewed relative to gdp. and it should be remembered that lending has not declined even though it rose strongly in the pre - crisis years. during that period, the economy overheated