Barbados takes longer time to recover from the global economic crisis by US Correspondent, Jack Hudson
Almost all Caribbean countries are saddled with huge amount of debt levels and are taking a comparatively longer time to recover from the debt crisis. Despite the debt relief services in the Caribbean countries, especially the online debt consolidation program, trying its best to assist the consumers to deal with their rising debt issues, is not being bestowed with much fruitful results. Reducing the high debt levels and improving the nation’s productivity are the top priorities of the Caribbean countries. Most financial experts in Barbados are of the opinion that the nation has to reduce debt and develop some new resources to enhance their financial prospects.
In the Barbados conference, the participants convened to explore the challenges of the Caribbean nations and some policy options that would help them recover from such sluggish state. The global economic crisis had a vast impact on the economies of Caribbean, especially on Barbados. It must be noted that the major portion of Barbados’ debt is domestic in nature and foreign debt has accounted for approximately 13% of the GDP in 2010 and is expected to account for 10% of the GDP in 2011. As per some financial reports, the average indebtedness of particularly the Caribbean nations had reached 50% of the GDP in 2008 and in some cases; it is still higher like 93% in Barbados.
Financial experts predict that the economic growth is expected to increase in the year 2011 as opposed to the slow financial growth in the year 2010. However, the arte of increase would only be a 3.8% that is almost equivalent to a 2.5% increase in the per capita GDP. In order to discuss these issues, the researchers and policy makers in Barbados gathered at a conference. There were expected to be some valuable improvisations according to the experts from Canada, Caribbean, the UK and the USA. Valuable ideas and opinions were exchanged among the experts and different approaches were made to address the common challenges.
- The debt and financial future of the Barbados region
The high level of public debt is one of the biggest financial issues that have plagued the Caribbean region. There have been successive years of fiscal deficits in Barbados and high level of public borrowing by public enterprises has contributed to the huge amount of debt. With the mounting interest bills and the global economic crisis have caused serious problems for managing debt in the nation.
This implies that monetary consolidation is crucial to bring back macroeconomic stability. The participants of the conference have suggested that lowering public borrowing could lead to effective economic growth. Fiscal adjustment and debt restructuring is the key to economic success.
New sources of financial growth have also been identified in the Barbados conference. Some new prospects have been incorporated in the health, education and some specialized financial services. Companies must concentrate on cost-cutting so that they do not incur further business debt and require of online debt consolidation program. The policy makers need to take a more proactive approach to meet the demands and maximize the benefits of the Barbados economy.