Business View Caribbean | October 2022

14 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 K nown for its sunny beaches, spectacular ocean views, and exciting restaurant and music scene, Barbados is a popular tourist destination, while also providing a high quality of life for those who call the island home. Even so, the last few years have come with their share of challenges for residents of the island, who have been dealing with a trifecta of issues, starting with a debt restructuring, leading into COVID, and today a substantial cost of living increase following the Russia-Ukraine war. In spite of these circumstances, Special Envoy to the Prime Minister of Barbados on Investment and Financial Services, Avinash Persaud shares, “Barbadians have been resilient, and have certainly been very much united in efforts to deal with those three things.” Addressing the debt restructuring, Persaud notes that in 2018 Barbados had the third highest debt-to-GDP percentage in the world. Suggesting that the population was in agreement with this restructuring, which was a necessary step to avoid a devaluation of Barbados currency, he asserts, “Given that we import most of what we consume,the alternative devaluation AT A GLANCE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS WHAT: Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados WHERE: Bay Street, St. Michael City: Bridgetown, Barbados WEBSITE: www.pmo.gov.bb ter of Barbados A Resilient and Progressive approach