Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Ryan Straughn, led Barbados’ delegation to the just-concluded International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC from October 14 to 20. The delegation included the Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados (Alternate Governor of the IMF), Cleviston Haynes; the Director of Finance and Economic Affairs (Alternate […]
Category: Economy
Below is a press release from the Barbados Government Information Service. The Government of Barbados (the “Government”) and the Barbados External Creditor Committee (the “Committee”) jointly announced today that they have reached an agreement in principle to exchange certain of the Government’s U.S. dollar-denominated debt for new bonds to be issued by Barbados. This includes […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Barbados continues to make good progress in implementing its ambitious and comprehensive economic reform programme. An IMF delegation, headed by Bert van Selm ended a four-day visit to Bridgetown to discuss implementation of Barbados’ Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan, supported by the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility […]
The People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PPDD) is predicting tough economic times ahead for Barbados. At a press conference on Saturday, Bruce Hennis, the party’s spokesman on the economy, said Barbados is in a very fragile position and many of the improvements which have been made came at a cost. “There were cutbacks in […]
CARICOM has re-established a CARICOM Commission on the Economy, with Special Envoy to the Prime Minister of Barbados on Investment and Financial Services, Professor Avinash Persaud, returning as its chairman. This announcement came from Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM, David Comissiong, at a press conference, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade on Thursday, […]
Below is a full statement by the Central Bank of Barbados. With the Crop Over festival shifting into high gear, the Central Bank of Barbados is advising both retailers and the public to be on the lookout for people who are trying to pass off fake banknotes as real money. “We tend to see an […]
A relationship built on public trust and consultation is critical to the success of any programme created for the economic recovery of Barbados. This was the advice of former Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, as he addressed a special meeting of the Social Partnership at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, this morning. Accompanying Kenny […]
Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment Marsha Caddle, says the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is aware that many Barbadians are experiencing hardship, but they are calling on residents to stay the course. “There are some parts of this adjustment that are difficult,” Caddle said Sunday at the Party’s first anniversary political rally at Carlisle […]
Members of the Opposition are warning the Government to take its time in the execution of the IMF-sponsored Barbados Economy Recovering Transformation (BERT) programme. Responding to the ministerial statement delivered by Minister in the Ministry of Finance during the Estimates debate, Ryan Straughn, where he outlined the precarious state of Government’s state-owned enterprises, shadow Minister […]
The committee set up to monitor the performance of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme has recommended that Government re-engineer its process of layoffs when retrenchments are over. Speaking on behalf the BERT Monitoring Committee on Friday at the Wildey offices of Sagicor, co-chair Ed Clarke suggested that the way the process is […]
Prime Minister Mia Mottley today promised that she will update the country soon about the Government’s external debt restructuring plan. “Those discussions are continuing, and the public will be advised shortly of what we will be doing with respect to the foreign debt situation,” Mottley said on the call-in programme Down To Brass Tacks on […]
Workers at State-owned enterprises are being put on notice that there are still more layoffs to come as Government seeks to manage a huge wage bill. “We’ve sent home so far just about 1,000 [people],” Prime Minister Mia Mottley said today on the call-in programme Down To Brass Tacks on Starcom Network Inc. “There are […]
Government has asked the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to helps reforming its indirect tax system, Drector of Finance and Planning Ian Carrington has disclosed. The multilateral lending agencies have been invited to advise on how to bring indirect taxes into balance corporate taxes, he said. IMF tax officials were currently here examining the Value […]
Opposition spokesman on International Business and Trade, Manufacturing and Commerce Bruce Hennis says the Barbados economy is moving in the right direction, but he said there is still cause for concern. Hennis was responding to the latest report issued by the Central Bank of Barbados (CCB). “What we have found was that the economic performance […]
Government is moving quickly to turn Barbados’ economic situation around so that persons can once again be employed. Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment, Marsha Caddle, made this known Friday, as she addressed the “Blast-Off” seminar held by the Barbados Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors at the Hilton Barbados Resort. She […]
A Barbados delegation is to hold talks next week with officials from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A government statement said that the team from the Ministry of International Business will be attending the Forum on Harmful Tax Practice (FHTP) from January 9 to 11. It said that during the forum, […]
Having fallen from glory, the Barbados economy stood at the edge of a precipice at the beginning of 2018, requiring urgent resuscitation and emergency surgery to save it from total collapse. But with a general election looming, politics almost automatically became the focus of the day, even amidst burgeoning calls from various groups for urgent […]
