Saturday, June 6, 2026

Debt burden despite growth

Date:

Share post:

NOT EVEN 1.6 PER CENT economic growth last year was enough to loosen the vice grip of high debt and weakening foreign earnings now burdening the Barbados economy.

In his economic report for 2016, Governor of the Central Bank Dr DeLisle Worrell yesterday admitted that Government and state entities owed a staggering $4.9 billion to private individuals and companies, though it represented a 15 per cent drop from last year’s position.

And as attention focuses on the state of the country’s foreign reserves amid increased discussion on the value of the Barbados dollar, Worrell reported that at the end of December, the bank held $681 million in reserves, or the equivalent of just 10.3 weeks of imports.  (GE)

Please read the full story in today’s Midweek Nation, or in the eNATION edition.

 

Related articles

‘Cut gang funding at the head’

Opposition Senator Ryan Walters threw his support behind the Criminal Gangs (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2026, yesterday, but...

Justice Greaves urges Barbadians to speak up about gang members

In sentencing a murderer to life and his accomplice to a long stretch in prison, Justice Carlisle Greaves...

World Environment Day – Climate Action – Now for Climate

Observed annually on June 5, World Environment Day is the United Nations’ flagship initiative for encouraging worldwide awareness...

Canada to provide funding to Caribbean through GAIA climate loan fund

 Canada says it will deploy an estimated US$97 million through the GAIA Climate Loan Fund, which is designed...