Despite current global situation, Barbados ends 2023 on high note: PM Mottley

The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, addressed the nation on Saturday. During her address, she shed light on the several achievements made by the country in the past year 2023.

While delivering the address, PM Mia Amor Mottley said, “Despite the uncertainty of the global situation, Barbados has ended the year on a high note.”

Mentioning the achievements made in the agriculture sector, she added that the food crop production increased by 24.3%. She also highlighted the progress made by the nation towards its 2030 goal of achieving food and nutrition security by reducing the food import bill.

Talking about the job opportunities and skill development in Barbados, PM stated that “thousands of Barbadians are being trained for emerging job roles, addressing unemployment and for fostering economic growth.” She also added that the government is making efforts in the creation of new job opportunities in the hotel, construction and digital sectors.

PM Mottley noted that the inflation has reduced to 4.4% by August 2023 because of the important and several measures taken by the government. “Contrastingly, Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a higher average inflation rate of 13.9%,” added PM Mottley.

It is to be noted, that the tourism sector has witnessed huge growth because of the strategic marketing of the government and the increase in airlifts.

PM Mottley, also acknowledged the efforts of the police officials of the nation and the government social interventions who played a huge role in reducing the murder rates from 43 to 21 in the year 2023.

She also mentioned that Barbados has achieved a 4.4% growth in 2023 after COVID-19 with health foreign reserves. The Gross international reserves provided over 31 weeks of import cover and stood at $2989.1 million.

Emphasizing the positive economic indicators of the government, PM stated that the nation has met all the economic strengthening markers under the BERT program and has increased the confidence of the investors marked by the tangible returning investment.

During her address, PM Mottley also highlighted about management of the debt by the nation and stated that the country has witnessed a lower public debt than it has been at any time since 2018, with the debt-to-GDP ratio falling to 114.9%.

Furthermore, Barbados has successfully adhered to the economic strengthening markers under the BERT program, which has played a pivotal role in earning positive international ratings.