‘Don’t waste a good recession’

Warren Smith, president of the Caribbean Development Bank.

Mon, June 25, 2012 - 12:00 AM

President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Warren Smith, is concerned about the current performance of the Barbados economy.

In a wide-ranging interview with the BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY, Smith zeros in on some of the specific challenges, ahead of this week’s budget presentation by Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler.

He also responds to the recent downgrading of the CDB by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, as well as gives his assessment of the just concluded Caribbean Growth Forum from June 18-19 in Jamaica, which was centred on entrepreneurship, competitiveness and innovation.

He spoke to Editor-in-Chief Kaymar Jordan.

First of all, your impressions of the conference.

Smith: Frankly, when I was coming here I thought the biggest challenge that we would have is to be able to convey the message that this was not going to be another talk shop. That we are going to be able to leave here with a greater sense that we would be able to address the problem of implementation.

And you feel as though that has been achieved?

Smith: Well, I don’t know if we have achieved that, but I think we have a better understanding and appreciation of some of the issues surrounding that. We have a reputation in the Caribbean of being very, very good talkers. We are very good at conceptualizing issues. We are not as good, I think, at implementation and execution. So that is part of the subtext throughout much of the discussions.

Read the full interview in today's BUSINESS AUTHORITY.