Barbados 'On Safe Ground' Says Owen Arthur

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

31 October 2001

Speaking at the 63rd annual conference of the Barbados Labour Party earlier this week, Prime Minister Owen Arthur reassured the Barbadian population that despite current economic conditions, the country is in a better position to weather the storm than at any time in the past.

Although in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr Arthur warned that there could be trouble ahead for the economy, he reassured party members that as a result of prudent fiscal management, and the implementation of the National Emergency Economic and Financial Programme designed to deal with the crisis, there was no immediate cause for concern.

'In bringing these new measures to bear, we comfort ourselves with the realisation that we have so managed our nation's economic affairs that we have resources, or access to resources, to cushion ourselves against the worst effect of the global economic crisis,' he said.

However, he added that the tourism sector, without government intervention, could go into freefall with potentially harmful consequences for the rest of the economy. In order to help prevent this, the Prime Minister took a $30 million tourism rescue package to Parliament on Tuesday, which if passed will be implemented within the next 90 days.

Although no details regarding the exact break-down of the rescue package were given at the party conference, Mr Arthur also alluded to plans to stimulate other sectors of the Barbadian economy, which could help to compensate for the lack of growth in tourism.

Recommended