Barbados: “We Will Not Roll Over and Play Dead” in Economic Recession

Above: Finance Minister Chris Sinckler

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Barbados will not “roll over and play dead” during the current economic recession, according to Finance Minister Chris Sinckler.

“That’s not the stance this government has, or will ever take, and it is certainly not the policy that I, as Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, will ever adopt,” he said. “Our position has always been to adopt a realistic approach to dealing with the crisis, identify what are our major challenges and fashion responses that address the problems.”

Sinckler was speaking at a conference with the Barbados Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

The Minister said Barbados’ government had crafted a five-year strategy to put the country on a sure footing, with measures aimed at stabilizing major macroeconomics indicators, growing the country’s foreign reserves and consolidating the government’s fiscal accounts.

“As a government and a country, Barbados has not rolled over,” he said. “We have been knocked to the ground a few times along the way, but we have risen, and will continue to rise even in spite of [the recession.”

Barbados’ gross domestic product grew by 0.3 percent in 2010, according to Sinckler, with a 0.5 percent growth in output. That estimation exceeded that of the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, which recorded Barbadian growth at 0.2 percent in 2010.

According to ECLAC, Barbados’ economy grew by an estimated 1.0 percent, however, last year, with a projected growth rate of 0.5 percent in 2012.