Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and the International Monetary Fund Mission Chief, Bert van Selm, met yesterday at Ilaro Court and discussed a range of issues ahead of the start of negotiations for the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
The IMF team, led by Mr. van Selm, sought to clarify key policy priorities that should underpin a new joint EFF-RSF programme for Barbados and to iron out any concerns raised by the Fund.
Prime Minister Mottley provided a progress report on government’s policy initiatives including its new home-grown Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) Programme, the importance of retraining the island’s workforce, renewable energy initiatives and the proposed public pension reform.
Ms. Mottley shared that the current draft BERT document would comprise strategies that focused on institutional strengthening in keeping with the needs of the public to maintain social stability.
She further stated that government was “well on the way” with pension reforms, adding that recommendations would be submitted to Government by the National Insurance Board, shortly.
Mr. van Selm described Barbados’ economy as a “very motivating macro framework that makes for more interesting discussion” and stressed his team was anxious to get down to work.
Also present at the meeting were Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ryan Straughn; Director of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ian Carrington; Permanent Secretary in Finance, Nancy Headley; Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Alwyn Jordan and Government’s Senior Economic Advisor, Dr. Kevin Greenidge, among others.
The IMF Mission will conclude on Thursday, September 29.