A United Nations report Wednesday said that jost Caribbean countries recorded negative current-account balances for 2005, except Trinidad and Tobago whose exports climbed by over 20 percent, mainly as a result of the increase in oil prices.

The UN reported titled "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2006" was launched on Wednesday and projects that the world economy will grow by slightly more than three percent this year, following a similar pace in 2005 and moderating from the historically high growth rate of four percent in 2004.

It said the slowdown largely reflects a maturing of the recent global economic recovery. Natural disasters and terrorist incidents since the closing days of 2004, although fairly well absorbed, have nevertheless also taken a toll, the report noted.

The UN report said that Latin America and the Caribbean continued to benefit from a favorable external environment.

"The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the region is expected to expand by about four percent in 2006, similar to the economic performance in 2005, but well below that of 2004 when growth reached 5.6 percent."

"Despite the slowdown, the cumulative increase in GDP per capita would be around 10 percent during 2004-2006, well above welfare improvements of the recent past," the report states, noting that the moderation of the average growth performance was largely due to what is happening in the two major economies of Brazil and Mexico.

In contrast, the report states, fuel and mining exporters such as Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela Chile, Colombia, Peru, sustained good macroeconomic performances in 2005.

In terms of the world outlook, the report states that in the future, the possibilities of new oil price surges, an outbreak of avian influenza into a human pandemic, or a crash in house prices in key economies pose a threat to a smooth winding down of economic growth.

But it said the greatest danger might lie in the systemic weakness entailed in huge and still-growing global finance imbalances.