Drawdown

GOVERNMENT has received another US$49 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as representatives from the finance institution prepare to visit Barbados next month to ensure the country is meeting its agreed targets.

But having received US$98 million of its US$290 million IMF loan, in addition to US$175 million from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the authorities stressed Barbados’ “underlying international reserves position . . . remains fragile”.

Despite this concern, which partly relates to the unresolved foreign commercial debts issue, the Mia Mottley administration said “the roll-out of the various fiscal reforms contemplated under the Barbados Economic Reform and Transformation (BERT) plan and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the IMF have been progressing as planned”.

Creditors update

That’s what Government outlined in its latest “creditors update” dated January 23, 2019, released ahead of tomorrow’s 2018 economic review and 2019 outlook by the Central Bank.

It came as the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department predicted Barbados’ economy would decline by 0.5 per cent this year, with consumer prices forecast to increase by 4.2 per cent. (SC)

Subscribe now to our eNATION edition.

For the latest stories and breaking news updates download the Nationnews apps for iOS and Android.