WITH A general election months away, a Budget in five days, economic uncertainty on the horizon and time running out for tough decisions, Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler is not a man to be envied, says a top World Bank official.
Dr Daniel Lederman, the World Bank’s deputy chief economist with responsibility for Latin American and the Caribbean, admitted that all eyes were on Barbados and what decisions the Freundel Stuart Government would make over the next few months.
“Everybody is paying attention to what is happening in Barbados,” he said. “The World Bank is a global institution and trust me, when I say there are many delicate situations around the world for a variety of reasons . . . but Barbados is certainly an economy that we have looked at historically as an economy that managed to prosper while being small by making tough policy decisions.”
Lederman, who delivered the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) annual William G. Demas Memorial Lecture last night at the Sandals Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort Village, conceded there was an ongoing battle in Barbados “between fiscal policy and the monetary anchor”. (GE)
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