The questions
1. What is your view of the growth prospects for the international economy in the next 12 months and how will your home country be affected by this?
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2. What policies has your country recently adopted that will assist its economic development in the next few years?
3. What policies has your country recently adopted that will assist the development of its financial sector in the next few years?
4. How has the Argentine crisis affected both your country and the region? If the impact is minimal, please explain why.
5. Does the election of Luis Inacio Lula da Silva as Brazil’s president mark a new stage in Latin America’s democratic development? How much is the Venezuela crisis a step backwards?
6. What are the prospects for FDI flows in both your country and the region in the next years? What could help to improve them?
1. Despite the expectations of some, forecasts suggest that industrialised countries are expected to grow at about 2.1% in 2003 and developing countries at 3.9%. With respect to Barbados, the international outlook could hit tourism – one of its major sectors. However, the country is far removed from the conflict.
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3. While continuing gradual financial liberalisation, the central bank upgraded its technological support systems. It reduced cash and reserve requirements for commercial banks, lowered interest rates and issued e-banking guidelines. In collaboration with commercial banks, it established an automated clearing house and launched a real-time gross settlement system.
4. The Argentine crisis has not affected Barbados; there is little trade between the two. The fact that Argentina had a fixed exchange rate system, as did Barbados, did not affect market perception of Barbados. Barbados has had a fixed exchange rate since 1975 and it has worked exceptionally well.
6. FDI into Barbados in the next few years is likely to be in tourism and hotel-related development. Such inflows peaked in the late 1990s but slowed following difficulties in the US and the downturn in the international economy. Inflows are expected to resume as uncertainty in the international environment diminishes.