EDITORIAL: Barbados commended for HDI rank

The news last week that Barbados remains one of the top developing countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), is significant. The rating underscores the strides this country has made in the efforts by successive governments to improve and maintain the social, material and economic development of its people.

However, it can be said that even as the people here celebrate this latest achievement, they are doing so against the backdrop of calls for the state to cutback on its massive entitlements since resources to fund those programmes continue to be in short supply.

Such factors as life expectancy, schooling, per capita income and access to healthcare, are among the indices by which countries are assessed in the UN Human Development Index. By virtue of the good scores that Barbados would have attained in the latest UN Survey, the country was ranked 54 out of 188 countries, to emerge as the leading developing country in the Caribbean. It is instructive to note that the Bahamas had the highest ranking in the Caribbean, edging out Barbados for the top spot.

However, Barbados would have earned its good ranking on the backs of the ambitious social and economic policies which have come to be identified with the 166 square mile island. Each year the country allocates a sizeable portion of its budget for expenditure on Education, Health and Social services, quite unlike a number of other countries in the region. The government allocated $514.0 million for expenditure on education this current year; $324.4 million as the budget for Health and $348 million for Social Protection. Included in those three are departments and agencies which are responsible for keeping the Government social sector policies on the front burner even as the economic situation becomes extremely tight, leading to cutbacks in some areas.

Each year Government has to find resources to pursue a judicious mix of policies that keep the ship of state on an even keel while engaging its spending in areas (as shown earlier) to provide citizens with the appropriate means to ensure their survival. However, it has not always been easy as can be seen from the drop in tax revenue, which is barely or not enough to do everything the Government wants.

The situation has therefore given rise to calls for the Government to trim some of the fat at certain state-owned enterprises, cut back on its overall expenditure in the wider public service and, where necessary, lower taxation. There are those who believe that to do these things would result in not enough to spend on behalf of people, including the vulnerable.

Quite naturally though it was expected that the rating by the United Nations was going to be hailed as a success of the Government, who would feel vindicated about what it is doing in leading the social improvements in Barbados. Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo, the Minister of Labour, was as expected very upbeat about the ranking, noting that it confirms Government’s view that Barbados is more than an economy. This has been the theme pushed by the present Government which came to office in January 2008, and it is assumed here that the Government won’t be departing from that position anytime soon. Against some of the odds, Barbados has done well, but still has work to complete.