The World Bank has said it could lend up to $14 billion to Latin American and Caribbean countries in the fiscal year that began this month.

The sum matches last year's record and is nearly three times the historical average.

The bank's vice-president for Latin America Pamela Cox said the unusually large sum was directly linked to the global financial crisis, which has shut many countries off from international markets.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has predicted that the region as a whole should grow 3.1 percent next year, following the 1.9 percent contraction it has forecast for this year.

By itself, the English-speaking Caribbean should expand by just 0.5 percent in 2010, ECLAC said.

Insurance mergers forecast

A senior Caribbean insurance executive is predicting a new series of consolidations in the industry, particularly if governments can make progress on regulatory reform.

Changes in the way the industry is run are expected in the wake of the financial troubles of Clico, the Trinidad-based regional financial services company.

Douglas Camacho, who heads the Insurance Association of the Caribbean, has been giving his assessment to the Chile-based Business News Americas.

He told the agency that if governments take up the challenge of mandating tougher corporate governance practices, there will likely be greater demand for insurance mergers and acquisitions.

Brown talks migration and skills

The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has acknowledged that the issue of foreign workers taking jobs in the UK is a sensitive one but believes the government has the balance right.

Appearing before a parliamentary Committee, Mr Brown said he believed the number of people coming into the country to work would be less this year as a result of the changes the government had made.

He said he would continue to look at the most effective way of having a policy which allowed the UK to have the skills it needed but managed migration in the interests of the country as a whole.

Lawyer set for fraud accused

A US judge has appointed an attorney to represent a Guyanese man accused of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

The judge said 66-year-old Neville Solomon of Georgetown should not represent himself while he searches for a lawyer.

Mr Solomon has pleaded not guilty to four counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the US.

The North Dakota case dates back nearly a decade.

Mr Solomon was arrested two months ago in Trinidad after eluding authorities for about 18 months.

Prosecutors want him to repay more than $2 million.

Supporters rally for Aristide

Supporters of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Wednesday celebrated his 56th birthday with street demonstrations demanding his return from exile.

About 1,500 supporters held pictures of the bespectacled leader and sang "Happy Birthday" outside his Port-au-Prince house.

They denounced President Rene Preval, a former ally they now consider a traitor for not bringing Mr Aristide home.

The protest wound through the streets to the central Champs de Mars but did not approach the presidential palace where tear gas was fired during celebrations last year.

Mr Aristide, who was ousted in a 2004 rebellion, now lives in South Africa.

Bolt aims high for league race

Usain Bolt says a 100 metres world record is not out of the question in Friday's Golden League athletics meeting outside Paris.

"I definitely think the world record can go any time," the Jamaican sprinter said Wednesday. "Anytime the weather is good, you never know."

Bolt set world records in winning both the 100 and 200 at last year's Beijing Olympics. He also helped Jamaica win the 4x100 relay in record time.

But his main goal is to unseat defending 100 and 200 champion Tyson Gay at next month's world championships in Berlin.