No Crop Over impacts recovery

The absence of a Crop Over festival two years in a row will impact the pace of Barbados’ economic recovery.

This assessment has come from Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes, who explained that the country was not getting the substantial amount of foreign exchange it usually would during the June to August festival.

“Not having it does impact the pace at which the economy will be able to recover on the one hand, but it also impacts those who are involved in that activity because we are talking now of persons who are into cultural activities, events management and this represented one of the major periods during the year when those persons could generate income,”

Haynes indicated during his recent January to June economic review.

Acknowledging that there were a lot of activities associated with the annual festival, Haynes said in addition to facilitating the earning of foreign exchange, the Crop Over Festival was responsible for scores of employment opportunities.

“So not having it does have some impact not just on the broader economy, but we also have to think of it at the individual level,” he said.

Beginning in June, Crop Over runs until the first Monday in August, and is estimated to generate between $80 million and $100 million in the economy each year.

However, following the advent of the coronavirus pandemic last year March, the festival was cancelled, dealing a severe blow to a range of related commercial activities including the making and purchasing of costumes, the hosting of events and the renting and purchasing of various equipment, products and services.

The festival, which was also cancelled this year, usually attracts thousands of people from around the world. Haynes said while it was critical for the summer celebrations to return to help boost economic growth and so that affected individuals could earn, it was a matter of getting the pandemic under full control.

“At the end of the day this is a health issue and we have to balance the health against the economic issues and the sooner we are able to take care of the health I think the sooner we will be able to get these types of events back on track,” he said.

The economy grew by an estimated 5.5 per cent during the April to June quarter. However, this moderate growth was not enough to offset the very weak performance of the tourism sector in the first quarter, and preliminary indicators suggest that activity for the first half of the year was nine per cent lower than for the same period in 2020. (MM)