Barbados Government Receives US$75M From CDB

Government received a US$75 million loan to support the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and President of the CDB, Dr. Warren Smith, signed the loan agreement for the second Programmatic Fiscal Sustainability Growth and Social Protection Policy Based Loan at Ilaro Court, today.

“We are only in a position to sign because we made progress…. There is reform fatigue, but you cannot get tired when we have come so far and have sacrificed so much,” Ms. Mottley said.

She expressed her appreciation for the funding option, noting that Barbados did not have a lot of options with respect to concessional funding.

“You have joined us in this battle globally that the arbitrary determination that the access to concessional funding is based on per capita income and GDP does not meet the reality of our circumstances. There is inherent vulnerability to exogenous shocks; be they from climate, trade or currency or international events that literally put us on the back foot,” she said.

Read more at: Barbados Government Information Service

Source: CARICOM TODAY