Barbados will be entering a new IMF program that Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley says will unlock 340 million US dollars in financial assistance.

She made the announcement at a media briefing at Ilaro Court.

Miss Mottley says a deal with the IMF gives Barbados access to the cheapest loans and will make available tens of millions of dollars in funding.

Miss Mottley spoke on the upsurge in gun crime linking it in part to how easily illegal firearms have become available internationally.

She appealed to communities to assist in the effort to bring the violence under control and announced plans to amend the gun laws to restore mandatory imprisonment for weapons possession.

Voice of: Prime Minister Mottley also announced that public sector pay talks will commence before month-end.