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Books and Analytical Papers > IMF Staff Country Reports

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Barbados: Third Reviews Under the Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, Arrangement Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, and Request for Modification of Performance Criteria-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This paper presents Barbados’ Third Reviews under the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, Arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, and Request for Modification of Performance Criteria. Barbados’ economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and the external position has improved. Inflation moderated gradually with the easing of global commodity prices but remained somewhat elevated due to adverse weather conditions that affected some domestic crops, and stronger demand for tourism-related services. Gross domestic product growth is expected to remain strong in 2024, driven by dynamism in tourism and related sectors. Implementation of the home-grown Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation plan and the ambitious climate policy agenda continues to be strong. The authorities have completed both reform measures for this RSF review. In March, the government tabled a Stormwater Management Act, replacing the existing Prevention of Floods Act. Meanwhile, Cabinet approved the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Policy Framework to reduce energy use of all government agencies and develop efficient public lighting.
Keywords:
reform measure; RSF arrangement; climate-policy agenda; climate policy agenda; IMF's Extended Fund Facility; Policy discussion; Credit; Fiscal stance; Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT); Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Barbados: 2023 Article IV Consultation and Second Reviews Under the Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Arrangement Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Barbados
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
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 reform program and climate policy agenda. The economy is expected to continue growing and inflation to moderate, with real gross domestic product and tourism returning to pre-pandemic levels in the near term. The current account deficit is expected to narrow as tourism and commodity prices fully normalize. Ample international reserves continue supporting the exchange rate peg, which remains a key anchor for macroeconomic stability. The authorities are working on enhancing their monetary policy toolkit and financial sector oversight. The authorities are advancing their ambitious climate policy agenda to increase resilience to climate change and green the economy. Important reforms are being implemented to achieve these objectives, including by incorporating climate considerations into the budget process, improving the disaster risk management framework, providing incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles, and addressing regulatory gaps to facilitate investments in renewable energy. The climate policy reforms are expected to help create an enabling environment that facilitates the mobilization of climate finance and private sector investment in climate-related projects.
Keywords:
RSF arrangement; growth potential; climate change impact; climate policy agenda; sector policy; Climate change; Climate finance; Climate policy; Caribbean; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
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-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Barbados
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
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 implementing an ambitious home-grown economic reform and climate policy agenda, aimed at strengthening fiscal sustainability, advancing structural reforms, unlocking the economy’s growth potential, increasing resilience to climate change, and greening the economy. After successfully weathering a series of shocks in recent years, the Barbadian economy has recovered strongly driven by a rebound in tourism and related activities and continues expanding in 2023. The authorities are making good progress in implementing their updated Economic Recovery and Transformation plan and their ambitious climate policy agenda. The planned new policy reforms to develop guidelines to implement sustainable/green public procurement and introduce climate/green budget tagging will further support the incorporation of climate priorities in the budget process. The climate policy reforms are expected to help create an enabling environment that mobilizes private sector investment in climate-related projects.
Keywords:
climate policy agenda; RSF arrangement; Barbadian authorities; government dependence; policy reform; Climate finance; Climate change; Credit; Fiscal stance; Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Barbados: Request for an Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Request for an Arrangement Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
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 sovereign debt restructuring, fiscal consolidation, and structural reforms to reduce fiscal dominance and enhance growth. International reserves have increased to US$1.4 billion by end-September 2022 from a historical low of US$220 million in 2018. While fiscal consolidation was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, public debt was put back on a downward path starting in FY2021/22. Building on the successful completion of a 2018-22 Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the authorities have requested a successor EFF program along with a Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) to strengthen fiscal sustainability, support the structural reform agenda, and increase resilience to climate change.
Keywords:
successor EFF program; EFF arrangement; climate change mitigation; sector policy; climate change adaptation measure; Climate change; Natural disasters; Fiscal stance; Credit; Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Eastern Caribbean Currency Union: Technical Assistance Report-Review of Regulations to New Securities Act and Investment Funds Act
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
At the request of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC), a Monetary and Capital Markets (MCM) Department mission conducted a review of a draft version of the new Investment Funds Regulations (IFR) and Securities Regulations (SR) form May 20–June 30, 2022. The two sets of regulations are a key part of the new regime to govern the capital markets in the member territories of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).
Keywords:
Securities bill; ECCU member country; investment funds bill; Securities commission; IOSCO principle; Mutual funds; Securities; Securities regulation; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Mauritius: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper reviews the fiscal rules framework in Mauritius with a focus on the calibration of the debt and budget balance ceilings. The paper concludes that a new medium-term debt anchor could be up to 80 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the anchor of 60 percent of GDP repealed during the pandemic. Introducing a short-term operational rule based on the overall fiscal deficit ceiling of around 3 percent of GDP would help reduce debt from 99.2 percent of GDP in FY2020/21 to close to the anchor by FY2026/27. The revised debt anchor would better reflect Mauritius’ debt carrying capacity while supporting growth. However, the current level of debt stands well above the proposed anchor. A transition period could be considered during which the deficit would gradually decline from 7.6 percent of GDP in FY2021/22 to 3 percent of GDP in FY2026/27 and beyond. Debt sustainability risks should continue to be assessed on the IMF’s Debt Sustainability Assessment tools regardless of whether the debt anchor has been met.
Keywords:
B. financing climate change; monetary policy transmission; climate change expenditure; debt anchor; debt rule; financing gap; Climate finance; Climate change; Debt limits; Central bank policy rate; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Barbados: Seventh Review Under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
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 increase growth. International reserves increased to US$1.5 billion at end-2021 supported by IFI loans. This, and a successful 2018-19 public debt restructuring, helped rebuild confidence in the country’s macroeconomic framework. Economic growth is projected at 11 percent for 2022 premised on a robust recovery of tourism, which is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2024. The outlook nonetheless remains highly uncertain, and risks are elevated, including from higher global commodity prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine that are feeding into inflation. Since Barbados imports the bulk of its food and energy needs, the government has adopted temporary VAT caps on oil products to contain retail price increases (fiscal cost of 0.3 percent of GDP). While fiscal accommodation was needed to respond to the pandemic and natural disasters over the past two years, the authorities are committed to running primary surpluses from FY2022/23 onwards which need to reach 5-6 percent of GDP in three years, consistent with meeting the 60 percent of GDP debt target by FY2035/36.
Keywords:
IMF's transparency policy; Barbados revenue authority; SOE reform; IMF's Extended Fund; tourism competitiveness; economic reform; policy issue; Fiscal stance; COVID-19; Natural disasters; Global; Caribbean