The Barbados government has received close to a billion Barbados dollars in financial assistance under the just concluded IMF extended fund facility and the economic team is currently working on a proposal for BERT number two.
This has been disclosed by government’s senior economic adviser Dr. Kevin Greenidge on VOB’s Down to Brass Tacks call-in program.
Dr. Greenidge disclosed that Barbados received BDS $870 million under the IMF extended fund facility which he insists was a home-gown program, designed by Barbadian economists and then supported by the IMF for critical projects and services.
And there may be a part two as Barbados and the rest of the world battle new crises on top of the covid-19 pandemic.
Dr. Greenidge stated that a decision is to be made in coming weeks on extending the IMF program, as indicated by Prime Minister Mottley last week.
The social partnership and the wider nation are to be consulted.
Dr. Greenidge who stresses that the current IMF is far different than decades ago, seems to favor seeking further help.
In fact, Dr. Greenidge believes that Barbados should have sought IMF help seven years earlier.
Also speaking on Down to Brass Tacks, University of the West Indies Pro-Vice Chancellor and Professor of Finance Justin Robinson agreed that Barbados made the right decision in going to the IMF.
