Barbados: New taxes and financial initiatives introduced to revamp economy

The Freundel Stuart administration in Barbados has announced a raft of measures designed to revive the island-nation’s sluggish economy and speed up growth, with Finance Minister Chris Sinckler announcing the introduction of new “tax measures and fiscal initiatives”.

Sinckler, delivering his first national budget since the Stuart administration won the last general election in February, insisted that new fiscal measures will bear fruit.

According to Sinckler, the implementation of the new tax measures and fiscal initiatives will “slow the slide in the international reserves, while increasing revenues and reduce on government spending, he did not provide any specifics of which areas are to be targeted.

The economy in Barbados has been sluggish since the beginning of the global down turn in 2009 – in July it was revealed that the economy had contracted in the first half of 2013.

The Stuart administration has made the economy its focal point ever since it was ushered back into office.