A review of leading composite indicators: making a case for their use in Caribbean economies

In this article, three issues relating to leading composite indicators (LCI) are discussed: their importance, methods of estimation and uses by institutions worldwide. This discussion is utilised to provide lessons that could be learnt for the application of these indicators to the countries of the Caribbean. The principal message of this material is that in this geographical area, LCI would be important tools for economic decision makers to employ to forecast the future state of the economy. This option should be pursued vigorously by putting the necessary resources into developing the high frequency real sector data that is required for a successful application of the LCI methodology.