Business
Bank of Barbados Governor expresses optimism about economy
The Governor of the Bank of Barbados, DeLisle Worrell has revealed that authorities are applying the appropriate remedies to deal with the economic problems facing the country and “and all that remains is to be confident and persistent”.
In July, the Bank of Barbados said that it was projecting slight economic growth 0.3 percent for the island-nation this year, adding it expects the economy to pick up in subsequent years, to 1.2 percent in 2015 and 2.5 percent growth in 2016.
The output for the economy as a whole remained flat despite the improved tourism performance. “There was no increase in value added in international business and financial services, and other exports of goods and services rose only marginally. Fiscal consolidation to restore the external balance exerted an unavoidable drag on the output of the non-tradable sector”.
In a monthly newsletter sent to business people on the performance of the economy, Worrell said that in the health of the economy, as in the health of Barbadians, the country faces “the challenges of success”.
He said with respect to the economy, “our high costs are a reflection of our relatively high living standards, when compared to our peers in the region and elsewhere. This is, after all, the reason we seek economic growth, to improve the quality of life for all Barbadians.
Because we have been more successful than our regional peers, our labor costs are higher. Because we have been more successful in attracting buyers of second homes, particularly in the mid-2000s, property values skyrocketed, though they have since moderated. Achieving top dollar on sales of property on our small island-nation is also in our best interests”.
According to the Governor, the way Barbadians continue to enhance their competitiveness is to build on their successes, firmly establishing the Barbados brand as a symbol of excellence, “improving the productivity of our labor force, upgrading and enriching our products and services, and seeking effective ways to improve the business climate in this country”.
He said strategies such as these are pursued by successful companies and countries around the world and that “Barbadians instinctively understand that all those who say our currency is overvalued are in effect saying that the average Barbadian worker lives too well.
“We reject the notion that we should lower our workers’ standard of living in order to become more competitive; the ultimate objective of competitiveness and growth is to raise the workers’ standard of living, after all”.
While private sector entrepreneurs have continued to invest in new and upgraded facilities in tourism and the services sectors of the country’s economy, the Freudel Stuart administration is working to stabilize the economy, to ensure foreign exchange reserve adequacy, and to protect the value of the Barbados dollar.
The Stuart administration continues to resist calls to devalue the country’s currency – arguing that the “value of the Barbados dollar is protected by adequate foreign reserves”. Worrell is optimistic that the country will successfully emerge from the economic downturn given that the government has embarked on an appropriate private-sector-led strategy of growth. -(CMC)