Jan 2010 Financial News

Rebalance the economy

Jan 25, 2010

Former Central Bank Governor, Sir Courtney Blackman, stated: “In Barbados, we need to focus on rebalancing the economy.”

He made this point at the first Economic Conference, “Plans to be a Real Stimulus”, facilitated by the Barbados Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (BANGO) and Caribbean Diaspora Association (CDA), held last week at Savannah Hotel.

According to him, “The economy has two strong sectors – tourism and agriculture. Tourism sector is the strongest; however, people always say that the tourism industry is too fickle. But, it is not as fickle as oil, which constantly changes.”

“Indeed, a serious shock like this will affect it, but tourists always come back.

“There is vulnerability in the tourism industry in that you can’t determine when tourists will return when something happens, but you can strengthen it by building another player in our economy and make that stronger.”

This was the view expressed by Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr. Delisle Worrell, who was speaking to the media last week following the release of the Bank’s review of the economy for 2009.

He stated, “The fact that Barbados’ economy is largely dominated by the tourism industry does not necessarily have to be viewed as a disadvantage or dangerous, if the right moves are made to ensure that a diverse and widely attractive product is on offer.”

Blackman pointed out, “In terms of improving the agriculture industry, incorporating technology may help save foreign exchange. Small business development is another area we should push. Small businesses produce more employment than big businesses. In the age of computers, University graduates and with help from the Government, we can further develop this area. People are not aware of the amount of assistance that the United States Government gives to small businesses.”

He added, “Barbados has also sold a lot of service to the Caribbean, such as engineers and architects. Some persons believe that services are inferior to goods, but in fact, they are infinite amounts of service that people can produce and only a limited number of good that people can use.

“The role of the individual is critical at this time because pressures on Government’s budgets will increase, such as the expenditures on education and health care that the Government has been making. Therefore, individuals need to be better prepared to be able to pay for themselves, you now have to do more to prepare for your retirement than
depend on pension or to send your children to University. There needs to be a shift from consumption culture to more of one of investment.”


Source:
Nadia Brancker
Barbados Advocate
Monday January 25, 2010

http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=business&NewsID=8598