Economic Recovery Plan ‘4.0’ To Be Tabled ‘Soon’

• Proposals for a fourth version of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) austerity programme are set to go before ministers, with Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Dr Kevin Greenidge expressing confidence that bold investment can drive growth well beyond recent projections.
• In a review of the country’s economic performance for the third quarter of this year, Dr Greenidge disclosed that the bank’s economic team had discussed a draft of the BERT 2025 programme with the Social Partnership. But in an update on the development, well-placed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said on Friday, “(The economic team) has presented a draft of BERT 2025 to the Social Partnership and received feedback. This economic team is currently incorporating those comments, and the next stage is for it to go to Cabinet.”
• After stabilising the economy and the government’s fiscal position, the new BERT will focus on transforming the economy, said the governor. “That, as with BERT 2022, targets a five per cent rate [of growth]. That five per cent is predicted on investment. A few things go into growth. It is not complicated. We keep it simple. Labour and capital; and you can divide labour into the number of bodies and the efficiency of that, which equals productivity.”.
• BERT, the International Monetary Fund-backed homegrown strategy for economic stability, growth, and resilience, began in 2018 with Dr Greenidge then as an IMF advisor embedded in the government. Initially launched to address a debt crisis through fiscal consolidation and debt restructuring, it has since evolved into BERT 2022 and BERT 3.0. The third version, with Dr Greenidge helming the Central Bank since March 2023, focused on transformation through economic diversification, digital innovation, and climate resilience.
• The idea of BERT 2025 arose while Dr Greenidge was defending the bank’s medium-term projected growth rate of three per cent, in light of scepticism expressed by some rating agencies regarding its practicality.
• The Central Bank projects that the economy will gradually return to its potential growth in the coming quarters as global conditions stabilise and investment increases. Dr Greenidge also noted that while people are accustomed to hearing growth rates of two per cent and two-and-a-half per cent, a look at the bigger picture would show much higher growth rate forecasts, such as ten per cent for the Philippines and five to six per cent for some others.

(Source: Dominican Today)