PM assures Barbadians on economy

PRIME MINISTER DAVID THOMPSON gave Barbadians the assurance that the country’s economy was still sound.Speaking during a national broadcast from Government Headquarters, Thompson, who is leaving the country shortly for further medical treatment, said despite the scare-mongering and the rumours, the safety net which Government had strengthened was proving effective.   Thompson said that as part of the world economy, Barbados was constantly taking stock and doing all that was humanly possible to alleviate the suffering of those who faced the risk of unemployment or “losing their sources of income”. “It is an undisputed fact that Barbados is faring better than several developing and even developed countries of the world. “That does not, and should not be interpreted to mean that it is plain sailing. We have many challenges and we are focused on meeting them head-on,” he noted.Thompson said Government had been frank with Barbadians and sought their  support for every critical decision made because participatory governance had become the norm in stable democracies.He added Government had redoubled its efforts to find new markets for the tourism industry. “Without being overly optimistic, I am pleased with the responses we are getting from two countries that seem to have weathered the financial and economic storm well – Canada and Brazil.“We now have to penetrate the Chinese market and the Minister of Tourism will be undertaking an initiative in a matter of days in that regard,” he said.Thompson stated that last week he met with the Cabinet and all Permanent Secretaries to monitor the first-quarter performance of the country’s fiscal affairs. He revealed Government had been meeting the targets of its Medium Term Fiscal Strategy.He also indicated that he hoped to sign the Four Seasons Agreement during the day to get that project up and running again (WG)