An IMF team conducted a Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) and Climate PIMA in Barbados. The country is recognized as a global leader on climate issues and has various initiatives underway to strengthen climate resilience. The climate agenda is not yet adequately integrated in PIM...

The authorities' implementation of the home-grown Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT 2022) plan and their ambitious climate policy agenda remain strong, supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). Economic growth in 2024 has been...

The authorities’ implementation of the home-grown Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT 2022) plan and their ambitious climate policy agenda remain strong, supported by the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). In 2023, the economy...

The technical assistance is focused on enhancing the joint financial stability report of the Central Bank of Barbados and the Barbados Financial Services Commission. The mission concluded that the preparation of a detailed FSR production plan and communication strategy is of critical importance...

The technical assistance encompassed a comprehensive review of all pertinent aspects aimed at enhancing the joint financial stability report (FSR) of the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) and the Barbados Financial Services Commission (FSC). The mission determined that the development of a detailed...

"Trade Policy Reviews" analyse the trade policies and practices of each member of the WTO. The reviews consist of three parts: an independent report by the WTO Secretariat, a report by the government, and the concluding remarks by the Chair of the WTO's Trade Policy Review Body. The opening...

This paper highlights Barbados' 2023 Article IV Consultation and Second Reviews under the Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement and Arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Barbados continues to advance the implementation of its comprehensive economic...

This paper discusses Barbados' First Reviews under the Extended Fund Facility and under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, Requests for Modification of Performance Criteria and Reform Measures, and Rephasing of Access under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Barbados is...

Most studies of total factor productivity (TFP) and long-term production functions use capital stock time series obtained from ad hoc estimates of the rate of depreciation and the initial capital stock. This paper introduces a methodology that allows the simultaneous econometric estimation of...

The Research Paper commences with an overview of Pillar One and Pillar Two followed by detailed discussions on salient provisions of Pillar Two. Pillar Two is envisaged to have a widespread impact on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which are a distinct group of 38 United Nations (UN)...

The Research Paper commences with an overview of Pillar One and Pillar Two followed by detailed discussions on salient provisions of Pillar Two. Pillar Two is envisaged to have a widespread impact on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which are a distinct group of 38 United Nations (UN)...

Despite a series of economic shocks, Barbados has made good progress in implementing its Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan since the government led by Prime Minister Mia Mottley took office in May 2018. Macroeconomic stability was restored with a combination of comprehensive...

Despite significant economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, twin natural disasters, and the war in Ukraine, Barbados has made good progress in implementing its Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan to restore fiscal and debt sustainability, rebuild reserves, and...

This study investigates the magnitude and possible determinants of gaps in the (paid) working hours of male and female heads of households. It utilises the Bauer and Sinning's (2008) general decomposition method to examine the differences in work hours among male and female heads of households...

Canonical human capital theories posit that education, by enhancing worker skills, reduces the likelihood that a worker will be laid-off during times of economic change. Yet, this has not been demonstrated causally. We link administrative education records from 1987 through 2002 to nationally...

Canonical human capital theories posit that education, by enhancing worker skills, reduces the likelihood that a worker will be laid-off during times of economic change. Yet, this has not been demonstrated causally. We link administrative education records from 1987 through 2002 to nationally...

Canonical human capital theories posit that education, by enhancing worker skills, reduces the likelihood that a worker will be laid-off during times of economic change. Yet, this has not been demonstrated causally. We link administrative education records from 1987 through 2002 to nationally...

Under Action 14, countries have committed to implement a minimum standard to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). The MAP is included in Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and commits countries to endeavour to resolve disputes related to...

Barbados has made good progress in implementing its Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan to restore fiscal and debt sustainability, rebuild reserves, and increase growth. International reserves have increased to USD 1.3 billion at end-March 2021, supported by IFI loans. This, and a...

While Barbados has been making good progress in implementing its Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan to restore fiscal and debt sustainability, rebuild reserves, and increase growth, it continues to face major challenges owing to the global pandemic. International reserves have...

This is a policy paper which examines the development challenges of the Caribbean island of Barbados against the backdrop of the government's decision to enter into a structural adjustment agreement with the International Monetary Fund in 2018. The paper gives an overview of Barbados' trajectory...

The major macroeconomic goals are to boost output and employment levels and maintaining price stability. Two mainstream polices tasked with regulating the economy to achieve these multiple goals are monetary and fiscal policies. These policies use different instruments to influence the...

In the years since World War II Barbados was transformed from a desperately poor society, with only a tiny middle class, to today's economy of mostly middle-income earners, which is ranked by the UNDP among the highest level of human development globally. In this chapter we discover that the...

This paper examines the causes, processes, and outcomes of Barbados' 2018-19 sovereign debt restructuring-its first ever. The restructuring was comprehensive, featuring several rarely used approaches, including the restructuring of treasury bills, and the use of a retrofitted collective action...

Barbados has made good progress in implementing its Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan to restore fiscal and debt sustainability, rebuild reserves, and increase growth-but faces major challenges owing to the global coronavirus pandemic. Since May 2018, international reserves have...

Small island developing states (SIDS), such as Barbados, must continually adapt in the face of uncertain external drivers. These include demand for exports, tourism demand, and extreme weather events. Climate change introduces further uncertainty into the external drivers. To address the...

This paper examines the causes, processes, and outcomes of Barbados' 2018-19 sovereign debt restructuring-its first ever. The restructuring was comprehensive, featuring several rarely used approaches, including the restructuring of treasury bills, and the use of a retrofitted collective action...

This paper focuses on Barbados' Third Review Under the Extended Arrangement, Requests for Augmentation of Access, and Modification of Performance Criteria. Barbados continues its strong implementation of the comprehensive Economic Recovery and Transformation plan aimed at restoring fiscal and...

This article contributes to understanding the performance of various unobserved components (UC) models in fitting Barbados’ real GDP. Relying on recent UC models techniques, it finds support for the UC model that captures correlated disturbances, but not for the model that does not. The best...

First Review under the Extended Arrangement and Request for the Completion of the Financing Assurances Review and Modification of Performance Criteria - Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Barbados

This paper presents 2019 Article IV Consultation with Barbados and its Second Review Under the Extended Arrangement, Request for Completion of the Financing Assurances Review, and Modification of Performance Criteria. The Article IV discussions focused on fiscal adjustment, medium-term growth...

This set of policy briefs has the objective of profiling disaster risk management (DRM) policies in five selected member States of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee: Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The present publication is the second that...

Under BEPS Action 14, members of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS have committed to implement a minimum standard to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). The MAP is included in Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and commits...