BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Prime Minister Mia Mottley has given an assurance to the business community that it will not be left in the dark as her administration gets ready to implement the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) 2022 plan.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley (File Photo)Bridgetown has reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the end of September and it will go before the Washington-based institution’s board on December 7 for final approval for financing under the Fund’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Government is expected to receive funding for the BERT plan to the tune of about US$500 million in the form of budget support, with US$183 million coming from the IMF, US$150 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and US$100 million from the World Bank.
The BERT 2022 plan speaks to the need for private sector investment to be increased from the current 8.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or BDS$975 million (One BDS$=US$0 50 cents) annually to about 15 per cent of GDP or about BDS$1.96 billion annually.
In addition to a targeted five per cent annual growth rate, it also speaks to the establishment of a public/private sector growth council and delivery task force to promote and support the implementation of the growth strategy.
Prime Minister Mottley, speaking at the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) annual business luncheon and discussion forum, said she is ‘truly amazed when I hear this government has not consulted enough”.
She was responding to BCCI president, Anthony Branker, who is calling for “an early seat at the table” when it comes to negotiations on economic issues with the administration.
Branker said while the business community was “thankful” that the country’s debt was being lowered and economic growth was returning, BERT 2.0 placed a great deal of emphasis on private sector-led growth and, therefore, engaging with the Government early was absolutely critical.
“We appreciate the role the private sector must play as the engine of economic growth and export expansion. However, as we go forward, economic development has to be based on a more inclusive and expanded public-private sector partnership. We need a seat at the table from early in the negotiations,” he said.
But he said “transparency and accountability have to be the pillars of this relationship to drive confidence in order to secure the investment”.
However, Mottley, who is also Minister of Finance, told Branker that he “need not worry about the level of engagement and consultation” since “what Barbados must look like over the next five to seven years requires all of us at the table”.
She made reference to a number of decisions taken recently, including the capping of freight costs and value added tax (VAT) on some items which she said was done following consultation with the private sector.
The Prime Minister said her administration would be establishing a fiscal council by the end of March next year and that work has already started, through the implementation of various pieces of legislation, to encourage greater transparency and accountability.
“We need an independent fiscal council to be able to send a message to all and sundry, locally and internationally, that what we say we will do we do and to be able to independently assess what the Government is doing in terms of the public financial management,” said Mottley.
The fiscal council is expected to have one representative from the international community.
She said that her administration will take an approach to economic growth that caters to the needs of residents, but warned that the task ahead will be difficult and would need an all-hands-on-deck approach.
