Business View Caribbean | October 2022

18 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 a rebound rather than something fresh and new, but we think we’re laying the foundations for being able to recover and to extend our sustainable growth rate. For much of the past 20 years, our average growth rates have generally been falling. Part of that is what happens naturally when a country catches up in development, but we want to really push the gas to accelerate growth and spread ownership. Ownership also matters, without it, without buffers and safety nets, ordinary people find it hard to take the risks they need to takie to choose the life they wish to lead. is the next step, with the establishment of a fund through the Caribbean Blue Green Investment Corporation. With contributions from the Green Climate Fund, and other government investments Persaud says the intention is to use this money to promote the project throughout Barbados and neighboring islands, reporting a lending capacity of $400 million by the end of next year. As for what comes next for the resilient island country, Persaud recounts, “We think the combination of housing, renewable energy, and investments in education, those three pillars, will give us a better chance of pushing our sustainable growth rates closer to the 5% mark than the 2% that we’ve experienced in the past two decades.” Sharing that Barbados’ rebound from COVID puts it as one of the strongest growing countries in the world, he reflects, “This is really