US $38 million drawdown approved for Barbados

38 million US dollars is to be made available to Barbados following the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund’s completion of the first reviews of the Extended Fund Facility and Resilience and Sustainability Facility arrangements.

In a statement, the IMF said the local economy had recovered with eight consecutive quarters of growth, and continues expanding in 2023 underpinned by an ongoing rebound in tourism and related activities.

It notes the country’s fiscal balance has significantly improved, and public debt has been placed on a downward path, reaching 122.5 percent of GDP as of the end of the last fiscal year.

In addition, the IMF says international reserves have risen to US 1.6 billion dollars as of the end of March, covering over 7 months of imports.

Following the Executive Board’s discussion, Gita Gopinath, the First Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair of the Board, said the island is making good progress in implementing its homegrown Economic Recovery and Transformation or BERT programme and ambitious climate policy agenda.

She adds that while inflation has increased with the rise in global food and fuel prices, it is projected to moderate in the coming months.

Ms. Gopinath also suggests continued progress on state-owned enterprise and pension reforms is important.

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