(Barbados Today) The way is clear for Barbados to draw down $48 million (US$24 million) from the International Monetary Fund as the IMF board completes the fifth review of its Extended Fund Facility to the country.
This will bring the total disbursements to around $830 million (US$415 million) since the four-year bailout of the country’s public finances was approved in October 2018.
IMF Deputy Director and acting Chair Tao Zhang said despite major challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, Barbados continues to make “strong progress” in implementing its homegrown Economic and Recovery Transformation plan, BERT.
The IMF has given its blessing to the current financial measures, pointing out that “the lower primary balance target, financed by additional support from international financial institutions, is appropriate to accommodate worse-than-anticipated revenue losses and support spending on public health and social protection”.
