Barbados and other Caribbean states are being cautioned against ignoring “long-standing” issues such as high unemployment, high energy costs and food insecurity, as they seek to urgently address more immediate challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
This warning has come from Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Governor for Grenada Gregory Bowen, who also called on the CDB to do more to help member states with their economic and social recovery and transformation.
At the same time, President of the CDB Dr Hyginus Gene Leon had disclosed that the Barbados-based financial institution would need to ramp up funding to member states for them to realise meaningful change.
They were addressing the opening ceremony of the CDB 51st annual meeting of the Board of Governors on Wednesday.
Speaking on behalf of borrowing member states, Bowen said the economic, social and psychological scars from the COVID-19 pandemic did not have to be permanent. He urged Caribbean leaders to continue to provide relief for families and businesses to support economic recovery as the pandemic continued to have a negative impact.
However, he warned that as countries are caught up with addressing those immediate needs, they should not ignore issues that have been plaguing the region for years.
“We are of necessity preoccupied with advocating for vaccine equity, and addressing vaccine hesitancy to accelerate vaccine take-up because we accept the fact that vaccination is now a key determinant of economic recovery and growth,” said Bowen.
“But while we frontally deal with the immediate difficulties occasioned by the unprecedented crisis, we must also simultaneously address long-standing challenges that COVID-19 has exposed and intensified,” he warned, while addressing the session.
These challenges, said Bowen, included “persistent low growth; chronic indebtedness; high unemployment especially among our youth; the high cost of energy; income and gender inequalities; food and nutrition insecurities and over-dependence on a few economic sectors that are themselves highly vulnerable to economic and natural shocks; and weak health, education and social protection eco-systems.
“Added to these long-standing challenges is the devastating impact of climate change, including sea level rise. Undoubtedly, we face many challenges and problems but we ought not and should not focus on them, lest they multiply and magnify. What we must do is remain laser-focused on the solutions, ideally first-base solutions, but second and third based ones should not be ignored,” he warned.
Stating that the region must be intentional in doing the right thing and doing things right, Bowen said the strategy also called for cohesion across institutions, individual and collective actions, effective leadership and strong institutions.
“Additionally, mindset shifts away from limitations and doubts towards possibilities and beliefs would also be required,” he said.
Adding that “extraordinary support” was needed, the Grenadian Minister of Finance, Economic Development, Physical Development and Energy also urged the CDB to “reset and retool” in order to “enhance its results orientation, effectiveness, reach and responsiveness”.
“The financial and technical support that the bank provides must match the enormity of the tasks at hand, which are becoming the securing of economic recovery and growth and the pursing of economic transformation towards a new development paradigm,” he said.
In his address, the CDB President acknowledged that the bank had a major role to play in making finances available to Caribbean states to upgrade infrastructure and institutions that could lead to improvements in competitiveness and productivity, increased innovation and resilience.
This, he said, was critical to drive growth and consequently achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
However, Leon, who was making his first CDB Board of Governors address, disclosed that preliminary estimates suggested that in order to just halve the rate of poverty in the region by 2030, in response to SDG goal number one, it would require a “more than doubling of average CDB lending”.
“That is only one of 17 SDGs. So just think the size of the problem that we face, the magnitude of the task we have at hand,” said Leon.
“What this tells us clearly is that there has to be a pressing need for multiple sources of funding, multiple financial instruments, as well as a clear identification of the role that CDB is expected to play in marshalling this development finance,” he said. (marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)
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