Zero growth

The Barbados Economy has shown no growth this year for three consecutive quarters, but the Central Bank is pinning a turnaround on a number of tourism and construction projects to eke out some growth by 2015.
In its nine-month report on the island’s economic performance released yesterday, the bank’s Governor Dr DeLisle Worrell said the economy fell 0.7 per cent, “reflecting decreases in output of both the traded and non-traded sectors”.
In this connection, the island’s critical foreign exchange reserves, which Government has been fighting to protect since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, fell by $447 million since December 2012.
That fall, over the last nine months, has left the island with just $1 billion in foreign reserves, but the governor contended the “reserve levels were adequate to cover contingencies” and was enough for 13 weeks of imports.
The country’s lead economist blamed the fall in foreign reserves on a significant drop in private foreign investment which went from $473 million at September last year to just $147 at the end of last month.
“In addition, there were declines in foreign earnings from tourism, other services, sugar, beverages and chemicals,” the bank reported.