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These efforts are likely to be aided by new air routes to the island from nontraditional tourist markets such as Brazil. That said, Links of London weak visitor numbers from developed economies keeping overall arrival numbers well below levels, we believe Barbados will have to step up its efforts to boost flights from faster growing economies if the tourism industry is to lead the wider economy out of recession. Dark Clouds Remain Even if the modest recovery in tourism continues, we caution that it will not solve the wider problems brought about by the structural imbalances pervading the Barbadian economy Links of London N Charm our online service, July , ‘Debt Concerns Keep Rising’. Any rebound in domesticdemand focused industries is likely to be cut short once spending cuts get under way, putting greater pressure on tourism and offshore financial services to offset broader weaknesses in the economy. This is likely to see the bias of domestic output shift further in favour of externally orientated sectors, exacerbating Barbados’s vulnerability to Links of London m Charm economic headwinds and leaving it overly exposed to risks of a slowdown in traditional tourism and financial services hubs in . Dominican Republic We estimate that the Dominican Republic’s current account deficit widened to . of GDP by the end of US.bn and will grow by . in US.bn, driven largely by an uptick in capital goods imports concomitant with the development of a landmark gold mine. Nevertheless, we expect the widening current account shortfall to remain well financed by foreign direct investment inflows, thereby supporting broader balance of payments stability in the process. In line with our view that largescale Links of London L Charm investments are set to propel growth in the Dominican Republic through , we stress that the corollary to this pronounced uptick in gross fixed capital formation will be deterioration to the economy’s external position over the medium term.