HOLD STRAIN AND BE PATIENT.
That was the message from Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados Dr DeLisle Worrell, who has called on Barbadians to recognize that unless the country earned more foreign exchange, the policies to depress their spending would have to continue in order to protect the entire economy.
In his quarterly Press conference, Worrell said yesterday that Barbados required foreign currency for almost everything it used.
However, he said the country’s relatively healthy foreign reserves position of $1.31 billion was the reason why the island could keep the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at bay despite nearly five years of slow growth.
“The IMF is not in a position to tell us anything. That is the beauty of having adequate foreign reserves. We had to engage in an IMF programme in 1991 because we were out of foreign exchange. Now we are paddling our own canoe,” he told members of the media at the Central Bank’s Bridgetown office.
