Tiny nations like twin-island St. Kitts and Nevis, a short chain of lush green volcanic cones set in an azure sea, have felt the shocks of the downturn and credit crunch as keenly as the winds and seas that lash them every summer.

Their high dependence on tourism, remittances, investment flows, imports and commodity prices makes than all the more vulnerable to recent worldwide economic tremors that have shaken giants like the United States and China.