IMF tells Barbados to take quicker action

(Barbados Nation) Barbados has been told that it needs to take quick corrective action, similar to what was done in 1991, in order to turn around the ailing economy.

Speaking during an interview at the just concluded High Level Caribbean Forum hosted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Trinidad, IMF deputy division chief Therese Turner-Jones stressed that Barbados’ efforts needed to be stronger even as the country headed fast into a general election.

“One of the things we [the IMF] are learning from lessons around the world is that for our medium-term fiscal strategy and fiscal consolidation to be credible, the most important thing is that it needs to be frontloaded,” she told the WEEKEND NATION.

“There needs to be what I call some very strong, one-time action to cause a correction that is fairly large in the initial years,” she added at the two-day forum entitled Rethinking Policy To Address Low Growth And High Debit In The Caribbean, held at the Hyatt-Regency Resort in Port of Spain.