The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is prepared to give Barbados more assistance, including additional funding, as it battles the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acting director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, Nigel Chalk, said this offer was on the table as he urged the country and others in the Caribbean not to become complacent despite an improvement in tourism and signs of economic recovery.
Delivering the latest Regional Economic Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean yesterday, the economist advised Barbados and the region to continue investing in public health, including expanding COVID-19 vaccinations, while supporting vulnerable groups, including those who had lost their jobs.
Chalk said Barbados and the tourism-dependent economies in the Caribbean “really got hammered very hard by COVID-19, and I think they are continuing to face significant decline in the number of tourism resources there coming into the country which is a huge external shock that’s really affecting the whole region”. (SC)
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