The Barbados Central Bank reports that economic recovery has begun but stresses the importance of increasing vaccinations to get the covid-19 pandemic under control here.

This was the assessment of Central Bank Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes delivering the economic review for the first three quarters of the year.

He stated that while the pandemic continues to create economic challenges, the Barbados economy has been resilient and global tourism has started to recover, with positive implications for the island.

Mr. Haynes notes that for the period July to September Barbados recorded its second consecutive quarter of economic growth.

The economy grew by an estimated ten percent compared to the same period last year.

However, this followed a significant contraction in the first quarter of the year due to the national pause and the very weak of performance of tourism during what would normally have been the peak tourism season.

This led to an overall economic decline for the period January to September. However with the commencement of economic recovery jobs have started to return.

The Central Bank is optimistic that the recovery will continue due to an expected tourism rebound.