Barbados Growth and Development Strategy (2013-2020)

The Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) 2013-2020 was created by necessity to jumpstart the productivity. The strategy reformulated the barbadian economy, for achieving high growth that must be “managed in a way that is environmentally and fiscally sustainable, generates employment opportunities and ensures that the fruits of economic growth contribute to poverty alleviation in an equitable manner”.

This strategy has four guidelines:

1. Adjustment: immediate adjustment is needed to reduce the fiscal deficit and the debt-to-GDP ratio to more sustainable levels, while growing the foreign reserves.

2. Reform: it speaks to the necessary policies and programmes which must be implemented in the short to medium-term to strengthen Barbados’ economic and social fundamentals.

3. Recovery: the positive economic impacts of the adjustment and reform activities will facilitate our recovery and return to a trajectory of economic growth. The strategy proposes that growth should be managed on the basis of annual targets set by the social partnership, with the progress and achievement of the targets being closely monitored and controlled. 

4. Sustainability:  sustainability of our economic growth and development over the 2013-2020 period will be assured through this nation’s commitment to productivity, efficiency, competitiveness and service excellence.

In an effort to articulate a comprehensive Growth and Development Strategy for Barbados, a broad national vision, four goals and twenty objectives are stated.