account is. however, the restructuring of the productive sectors to make them more competitive is another major challenge facing the country going into the csme, and it requires a combined effort. with judicious action at the policy - making level, and with the support and input of the public sector, these challenges can be met. on balance, the csme can produce net benefits to the barbadian economy by providing a harmonised framework for policy formulation, as well as a larger market, with greater opportunities for employment, investment, production and trade. one that will provide barbados with the economic and bargaining power necessary to combat external threats and overcome resource constraints. however, what ’ s in store will, to a large extent, depend on our willingness to seize the opportunities presented to us. we can chart our future in csme – not one sector or group alone – but with every group, sector and organisation determining what it wants and setting out to get there. what is in store for us in caricom will be largely determined by the efforts we make and by the initiatives we take to influence the outcomes we want.

shut it down to buy time, to delay the spread of the virus while building the country ’ s health capacity. amid this challenge, the domestic banking system can be harnessed to support economic recovery. specifically, they provide cash flow support to individual clients and micro, small and medium enterprises. banks are also our conduits in the accelerated promotion of digital banking and electronic payments transactions of our countrymen during the pandemic. on this note, our strategy of combatting the covid - 19 pandemic with the help of the banking system is focused on four critical areas. first, to provide sufficient liquidity to support government ’ s efforts of saving lives and livelihoods. second, to maintain the stability of the financial system. third, to ensure the continued delivery of financial services to the public. lastly, to shore up confidence and cushion economic activity. 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches in fact, the bsp has injected a total of p1. 5 trillion to the financial system, equivalent to about 7. 6 percent of gross domestic product ( gdp ), as part of its liquidity - easing measures to address the impact of covid - 19 pandemic. at this juncture, allow me to briefly discuss our various regulatory and operational relief measures to assist the bsp supervised financial institutions endure the health crisis as well as to support households and business firms. first, we provided bsfis with regulatory reliefs to enable them to grant equivalent financial relief to their borrowers in the form of more flexible and favorable lending terms, or restructure loan accounts. second, they were given incentives for lending to assist the micro, small and medium enterprises and large enterprises carry on with their business during the covid - 19 crisis, as well as hasten recovery and sustainability of their operations, during the post - crisis period. one of our more innovative incentives is that new loans to msmes, and certain large enterprises that were critically impacted by the pandemic but not part of a conglomerate will now be recognized as forms of alternative compliance with banks ’ reserve requirements, which i ’ ll discuss further in the next slide. third, is the promotion of continued access to financial services through key policies. this includes the relaxation of know - your - customer ( kyc ) requirements, temporary suspension of all fees and charges covering online banking transactions, licensing and fund transfers, operational relief for fx transactions and financial assistance in the form of loans, advances or other credit accommodations granted to bsfi