Barbados-Drawdown #2

• Despite “minor delays”, Barbados has managed to make a strong start in implementing its economic austerity program, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday, prompting the IMF’s second release of credit to Bridgetown.
• The IMF said the country passed its first quarter review, triggering an immediate injection of about $97.40Mn (US$48.70Mn) into its growing international reserves.
• This takes the total disbursement so far to $194.80Mn (US$97.40Mn). The first was in December last year.
• Under the four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement, Barbados is to receive an amount equivalent to about $578.8Mn (US$289.41Mn), or 220% of island’s quota in the IMF, which was approved by its Executive Board on October 1, 2018.
• The nod of approval for the second disbursement came just over a month after an IMF team carried out a review of the island’s BERT program under the EFF.

 (Source: Barbados Today)