Barbados, IMF relations ‘very productive’

BARBADOS’ relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within the last four years has been deemed as “very productive”.
Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva made this admission yesterday while participating in a one-on-one conversation with Dr. Simon Naitram, Lecturer in Economics at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus and President of Barbados Economics Society.
Georgieva was responding to a question posed about the current working relationship be- tween the government of Barbados and the financial institution, as rela- tions in the past were strained.
“...Some 30 years ago relations between the IMF and Barbados were difficult, and now there are very productive. And actually, we learned from Barbados through past experience to our engagements with other countries. And I believe there are three reasons for that.”
Georgieva acknowledged that the first reason has been how the IMF has changed over time: “We were always a very competent organization, and we are a very competent organization. But over time, we learned that a deeper engagement with countries is necessary. To have programmes that are owned by the countries - that we define how we go forward, together.”
She said that secondly, the IMF has taken a more comprehensive approach towards its well-define mandate, “macroeconomic and financial stability, growth, and employment”.
“We now understand that only a comprehensive approach that takes into account not just narrow economic and financial factors, but takes into account people, investing in ed- ucation, health and social pro- tection takes into account our planet, the risks of climate
change to macroeconomic and financial stability. So, that is a significant advancement in the way my colleagues at the IMF approach our mandate.”
The third reason, according to the IMF chief has been the need for gender diversity, which is needed at the senior levels.
“I think that in the world we live in, we do need gender diversity everywhere. Not be- cause governments led by men, and organizations led by men would be less competent - they’re very competent. But, we need this ability to bring all perspectives and one thing women bring, as you know very well, is more consensus-oriented attitude and much deeper care for the vulnerabilities in society – for the children, for the elderly. I saw it in our trip around Barbados with Prime Minister Mottley - I looked at Barbados through her eyes, and this is a caring person who actually very deeply lives through the struggles of this nation,” Georgieva said.