Atherley says IMF test passed but Barbadians hurting

Former Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley is concerned that while Government has met its targets under the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme, the economic measures are hurting some Barbadians and it has therefore missed the mark.

And he said he would not be surprised if the Mia Mottley administration entered another agreement with the Washington-based financial institution.

An IMF team completed its seventh and final review of the BERT programme last week, indicating that Barbados had met all its quantitative targets for end-December 2021 and end-March 2022.

“The outcome of the visit is not surprising. The IMF is basically reporting what it has said before after each of these assessments and that is that the Barbados Government is doing a good job in terms of keeping in tune with the conditions set within the arrangements which the country has with the IMF,” Bishop Atherley, the leader of the Alliance for Progress Party, said.

“When the IMF speaks like that the Government is, in fact, honouring its commitment to those conditions, including the build-up of foreign reserves, control of expenditure, and efforts to earn revenue, so Government will be able to address in a macro way some of the problems facing the economy in time. But unless the address of those conditions in the economy which cause pain to people in their pockets and on the ground also takes place, then I think that we are still missing the mark,” he added.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Mottley indicated that a decision would be made within the next few months on whether to extend the BERT programme – which her administration entered soon after assuming office in 2018 and is now set to end on September 30, 2022.

The head of the IMF mission who visited last week, Bert Van Selm, lauded Barbados for the progress it has made throughout the life of the programme in generating economic growth and restoring debt and fiscal sustainability.

However, Atherley insisted that Government must address, in a more meaningful and strategic way, the economic structure under which Barbados operates.

“We have a growth platform which is premised on a very limited structure, essentially tourism. We need to see that diversified so that we pursue a tourism product that is more than sun, sea and sand and that is a bit more than a coastal tourism economy. We need to diversify the product and diversify the profile,” he said. (AH)