The Central Bank of Barbados is looking to the local private sector to increase its investments in the economy by a billion dollars in the coming year.
Addressing a news conference on Friday morning as he reviewed the performance of the economy for the first nine months of 2023, Governor Dr Kevin Greenidge said he anticipates the private sector will double its current investment levels in the year ahead.
“Continued growth in the economy will come through investment. Under the BERT [Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation] Programme, we expect the private sector to step up investment from the current eight per cent of GDP, which is just under a billion dollars to close to two billion dollars. That’s how we are going to get the growth going forward,” he suggested.
“Government continues to step up on its capital expenditure programme also, and with that, we expect this year – with one quarter to go – we expect growth of between 4 and 5 per cent,” he said during the hybrid press conference.
Asked what was being done to encourage the private sector to help drive economic growth, the Central Bank head asserted that the environment is right.
“It is just for the private sector to get up and seize the moment. In my view, the environment is conducive to investment. If there is ever a time to invest, it is now. I think it’s just a matter of the private sector seizing the opportunities wherever they are,” he contended, saying that may include companies forming partnerships with different regional counterparts.
“Now is the time. I know persons were a bit cautious coming out of COVID, coming out of a high-debt environment, but there is no better time than now.” (EJ)
