Barbados records growth of 5.5%: CARICOM BUSINESS

Barbados has recorded growth of 5.5% during the April to June quarter of 2021. That’s the word from Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Cleviston Haynes who is predicting growth of 1 to 3% for calendar 2021.

Haynes said the performance of the economy continued to be constrained by the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a dramatic falloff in tourism and a national lockdown in February. He noted, however, that “preliminary data suggests that the economic recovery has started.”

International reserves increased by $88 million during the April to June review period, to reach $2.7 billion or just over 10 months of import cover. Barbados is maintaining a primary balance target of 0% of GDP for FY2021/22 ending March 2022. Total revenues declined by 2% or $122 million, to reach 7.6% of GDP; while expenditure increased by some $27 million, to reach 6.9% of GDP at the end of June. With Government debt continuing to rise between April and June, reaching 150.3% of GDP or $13 billion, a new timeline of FY 2035/2036 has been set to achieve debt sustainability of around 60%. The initial target was FY 2033/2034. (BT)

Extract from CARICOM BUSINESS Newsletter Vol 4 No 30

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Caricom Business July 31 2021-vol-4-n0-30