By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor
The World Bank Board of Directors has approved a $15 million Development Policy Credit and Loan (DPC/DPL) with Grenada.
This financing aims to foster sustainable conditions for private investment, improve public resource management, strengthen the banking sector, and build up resilience against natural disasters.
Grenada was hit hard by the 2008 global financial crisis, with a real GDP contraction of over eight percent from 2009 to 2012, while its fiscal deficit more than doubled.
Grenada’s economic recovery accelerated in 2014, spurred by the strong performance of tourism and agriculture.
“Grenada’s ambitious fiscal consolidation efforts are showing positive results,” said Sophie Sirtaine, Country Director for the Caribbean. “With this financing, Grenada is expected to address critical bottlenecks to help promote inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the country.”
The disbursement builds on reforms supported under the first DPC/DPL in a series of three, and is aligned with the Government’s national development strategy which aims to accelerate economic growth, restore fiscal and debt sustainability, strengthening financial stability and improve social development indicators.
The funding will work toward an improved investment climate through the development of a new regulatory framework for the tourism sector, strengthened linkages between agriculture and tourism, reducing cost and time for customs procedures, and a new policy for Public Private Partnerships.
Another objective of the DPC/DPL series is a modernized public sector, to be achieved through strengthening public procurement systems and improving the targeting of social safety net programs for the poor while restoring fiscal and debt sustainability.
It will also reach toward heightened resilience against natural disasters through the establishment of the national building code, guidelines, and the Physical Planning and Development Control Vill, as well as banking sector resilience through better regulation and supervision, according to the Bank.