Debt burden despite growth

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.