Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has reiterated Government???s commitment to private sector-led growth.

While delivering the feature address today at the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry???s luncheon at Hilton Barbados, Mr. Stuart reassured the business people that Government???s commitment had not abated.

???Private sector-led growth cannot continue to mean, ???what else will the Government do????

“We have to reach that stage where we at last hear from the private sector what its vision is for its own development and how it will use the enterprise, the initiative and the innovation which are agreed to be a private sector???s characteristics, to accelerate the growth and development of Barbados,??? he remarked.

The Prime Minister reminded his audience that Government had embarked on a 19-month programme to stabilise the fiscal situation and to lay the foundation for growth.

He said the programme was working, and that by the end of the fiscal year, Government would have achieved a reduction of the deficit by between 5.3 and 5.6 per cent of GDP for the year 2014-2015.

???The stabilisation programme has been extended for one year by the end of which, all things being equal, we should have arrived at an eminently more manageable fiscal situation,??? he insisted.??

He stressed that Government was committed to ensuring that those measures required to return the economy to growth would feature prominently in its policy making.

Mr. Stuart noted that several investors were demonstrating their confidence in Barbados, and outlined a number of tourism-related projects which would come on stream during 2015 and 2016.

These projects include the redevelopment of Sandy Beach Hotel at Worthing, at a cost of US$20 million; the Downtown Hyatt Hotel at Bay Street, at a cost of US$100 million; Settlers Beach Redevelopment, which will cost US$70 million; and the redevelopment of Sam Lord???s Castle, at a cost of US$225 million.

???Beaches Barbados, at a cost of US$200 million, will account for 400 suites and is scheduled to start by 2016, while the long talked about Pierhead Marina, at a contemplated cost of US$110 million, is under active negotiation for as early a start as possible.

“Notably, legislation passed 14 years ago, with the most generous concessions, and eight years before the global financial crisis, failed to excite the appetite or interest of the private sector in Barbados,??? he stated.

The Prime Minister’s full speech may be downloaded here.

sharon.austingill-moore@barbados.gov.bb

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