Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Ryan Straughn, has expressed renewed confidence in the Barbados Economic and Recovery Transformation Programme (BERT).
He said Government would continue to emphasise the benefits of the programme to the entire country because it had “catalysed a whole set of access to other things beyond what we had initially anticipated”.
Minister Straughn gave the undertaking on Monday, as he, along with Minister in Economic Affairs and Investment, Senator Chad Blackman; Central Bank Governor, Dr. Kevin Greenidge; and other senior government officials met with Barbados’ International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief, Michael Perks, and his team during a staff visit at Government Headquarters.
Mr. Straughn stated: “Our job really is to ensure that the reforms continue to be implemented because they are important, and the Barbados Economic and Recovery Transformation Programme is critical to Barbados’ future success. Therefore, irrespective of what happens politically, these are the things that we have done, and will continue to do…”
The Minister pointed to the upcoming World Cup Cricket T 20 finals and other key events slated to be held in the county as a sure sign that confidence was returning in several key areas.
He assured the IMF team that Government was “even more committed today and energised to ensuring that these things happen in a timely manner”.
Mr. Straughn also reminded the team that Barbados had been removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) List of Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring, also referred to as the FATF Grey List.
He shared that there were 53 areas that needed to be addressed when they came to office in 2018. Minister Straughn said last December there was one area to be dealt with and now “Barbados is officially off the FATF list”.
He continued: “So, the EU (European Union) and those who had us on those various lists will be addressed shortly in relation to upping the compliance based on what we have done for the last five years to address some of those issues.”
The Minister also mentioned continued work with the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office to provide better business facilitation and enhanced regulation of growth.
Mr. Straughn stated that he also wants to see greater business opportunities; and the recruitment of the right skills set to ensure consistent communication among the business community to facilitate accurate reporting with regulation agencies for the exchange of information, among other things.
He also provided an update on the global minimum tax framework, the proposed Patent Box Regime to unlock opportunities to attract overseas businesses for the purpose of carrying out research and development into new products, specific internet portal related investments, and other areas.
Meanwhile, Dr. Greenidge gave a report card on the island’s economic performance saying that the island had met all of its targets at the end of last year.
He added that the economy grew by 4.5 per cent last year and this was “on top of the 13.2 per cent the year before. So, we are back to our pre-COVID levels…slightly bigger in nominal and real terms. There are some areas like agriculture, manufacturing, and the changing business model of one of our major players – the Arawak Cement Company”.
He continued: “But generally, our unemployment level is one of the lowest…. In fact, the only time it was that low was when we did the Kensington Oval for World Cup in 2007, and ironically this year, we are doing some investment in that area, so we expect that to support strong growth.”
Mr. Perks congratulated the Government of Barbados on being removed from the FATF Grey List, deeming it a “major achievement”. “Even though the public may not really understand it, the board feels really strong about it, so that was a big thing,” he underlined. (PR/GIS)
CAPTION: Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment, Ryan Straughn, speaking at yesterday’s meeting with new IMF mission Chief, Michael Perks at Government Headquarters while Minister in Economic Affairs and Investment, Senator Chad Blackman (right), Central Bank Governor, Dr. Kevin Greenidge (third from right); and other senior government officials, look on.
