BUSINESS MONDAY: GREENIDGE OPTIMISTIC

DR. KEVIN Greenidge, the Government’s Chief Economic Adviser, believes the Barbados economy is going to rebound in 2021, once the country sees the back of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Discussing the progress the country has made under the BERT (Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation) programme, Dr. Greenidge said that the island’s economy has benefited from the measures pursued under BERT.

The overall national debt has been dealt with, Government’s fiscal position has improved, and reserves have grown to $2.6 billion from the $400 million.

“So we are in a better position,” he reasoned.

This time last year, the economy contracted three per cent but deteriorated further once COVID showed up, ending 2020 with a decline of 18 per cent, Central Bank of Barbados data have shown.

Admitting that it is a tough position to be in, Dr. Greenidge expressed confidence “we can get out of this”.

“In 2020, all economic sectors in the Barbados economy contracted with the exception of agriculture... and while overall manufacturing contracted, it will improve,” he maintained.

The Economist said the world economy is expected to grow this year and that the IMF had projected global growth of about five per cent.

He admitted too that while there is need for economic diversification in Barbados, it should be done around Tourism to broaden the economic base. To him, there should be more sectoral linkages and even within tourism some activities can be diversified.