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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached a Staff-Level Agreement with Barbados for a Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) programme and an accompanying Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Under the agreement, which is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, Barbados will get access to about US$183 million under the RST and around US$110 million under a 36-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Barbados is the first country to access the RST, which is designed to provide affordable, long-term financing to assist in building resilience against climate change.
Following the September 20 to 28 visit, IMF team lead Bert Van Selm said: “The combined RST and EFF programme aims to strike a balance between enhancing resilience to climate change, while also focusing on Barbados’ continued efforts to reduce public debt and facilitate capital expenditure to boost growth.”
He added that: “Barbados continues to confront economic challenges owing to the global pandemic and higher global commodity prices, but the recovery is now well underway. Inflation has been rising since the second half of 2021 owing to supply chain disruptions and increasing global food and oil prices, fuelled in 2022 by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“With a strengthening in tourism to about 60 percent of pre-pandemic norms, economic growth is projected at 10 percent in 2022. A gradual economic recovery is expected over the medium term, but downside risks to the outlook remain high.”
Read the full statement here.