Barbados wins public debt management award

Barbados, along with an African and South Asian nation, has been awarded by the Commonwealth Secretariat for the management of its public debt.

The winners, who were selected by an independent panel based on innovation, resilience and sustainability, following submissions from across Commonwealth countries, were announced at a recent ceremony, hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat in London during the Commonwealth Public Debt Management Forum.

The inaugural Commonwealth Public Debt Management Awards to Bridgetown, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania are in recognition of their contributions and innovation in managing public debt.

Barbados’ Debt Management Unit won the Regional Debt Management Office Award for the Caribbean for its work on debt-for-climate swaps. This approach allows the country to reduce its public debt in exchange for investments in local climate projects.

The awards ceremony was opened by Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General (Programmes) Tanmaya Lal in the presence of high commissioners and representatives from ministries of finance, treasuries, development organisations and financial institutions.

The week-long Commonwealth Public Debt Management Forum brought together debt managers from member countries for peer-to-peer learning, sharing experiences and exploring the latest thinking on how governments borrow, manage, and repay public debt.

The forum also involved high-level panel discussions on innovative policy frameworks for enabling sustainable and inclusive debt management.

Insights from the forum, which concluded on Friday, will inform the delivery of support provided by the Secretariat to help countries strengthen public debt management policies and operations. (EJ)