It has often been said that times of crisis can often lead to opportunity for change. Barbados is no stranger to this concept, having faced macroeconomic challenges during the past decade, including low growth, high government spending compared to revenue collection, elevated debt levels and declining international reserves (see Figures 1 to 4). This has led to an ambitious set … [Read more...] about Four key reforms to bring back economic growth to Barbados
Economy & Investment
Wait No More: Improving Government Services in the Caribbean
It’s not unusual for Caribbean citizens or firms to expect that renewing a passport or registering a new vehicle will require them to spend a full day at a government office. That is, for those fortunate enough to complete their transactions in a single visit. On average, Caribbean citizens spent over 4 hours to complete their last government transaction. And this does not … [Read more...] about Wait No More: Improving Government Services in the Caribbean
More female entrepreneurs please
Capital, contacts and conciliation are known as ‘The Three Cs’. While all entrepreneurs experience challenges in starting a business, women have these three additional obstacles to overcome. And while there are several studies that show the more women in a company, the more profit that company makes, these obstacles remain. If we want to see more women starting businesses, … [Read more...] about More female entrepreneurs please
Trust and Transparency: Key Ingredients for Citizens’ Well-being
The IX Annual Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group-Caribbean Civil Society Meeting, held November 12, 2019 in Barbados, was convened under the theme “Citizen Engagement for Transparency”. IDB Vice President for Countries (VPC), Alexandre Meira da Rosa spoke at the event on the level of trust and transparency in Latin America and the Caribbean and its role in improving … [Read more...] about Trust and Transparency: Key Ingredients for Citizens’ Well-being
A Synchronized Slowdown of the Global Economy – Is the Caribbean in Sync?
With growth rates for the World Economy of 3.8 percent in 2017 (and similar expectations for 2018), the IMF declared in 2018 that the World Economy was in a ‘cyclical upswing’ but also warned that ‘For most countries, current favorable growth rates will not last.’ That forecast has proven to be correct, even though the speed at which the World Economy has slowed has come as a … [Read more...] about A Synchronized Slowdown of the Global Economy – Is the Caribbean in Sync?