delisle worrell : the strength of barbadian institutions and the resolve of barbadians will see us through the crisis op - ed article by dr delisle worrell, governor of the central bank of barbados, 15 august 2013. * * * barbadians have every reason to be confident that we can cure the foreign exchange imbalance which has emerged in the last three months, and revive the growth of our economy. first, we have the highest standard of living in the caribbean, and we have earned it by transforming the economy and investing in infrastructure and human resources, over many decades. figure 1 compares the human development index ( hdi ) for barbados with the rest of the caribbean. the hdi is the best indicator of the quality of life available for countries worldwide. second, barbados has strong institutions for decision making : our social partnership is the envy of countries worldwide ; our economic information systems are the equal of many industrial countries ; our media are knowledgeable ; and we have a strong mechanism for putting policy into effect. thirdly, we have preserved the value of our dollar, protecting the value of people ’ s savings, and providing more predictable returns for investors. fourthly, we have reserves which are more than sufficient to ride out the storm, as may be seen in figure 2. with these resources we may confidently address the challenges, which are twofold. the first is to balance foreign exchange inflows and outflows. following the june 27th economic consultation, government is in discussion with the social partners on measures that will be introduced to reduce the fiscal deficit. the required adjustment is considerable, about 4. 5 % of gdp, but not sufficient to cause major social disruption, as may be seen in figure 3. the adjustment will protect the value of our currency, which is vital to barbados ’ economic prosperity. figure 4 shows how the caribbean countries which have devalued have fared, compared with those that have maintained an unchanged value of their currency in terms of the us dollar. economic growth is the second challenge. the social partners continue to pursue actions to revive the economy. investment amounting to $ 2. 3 billion is in prospect for the foreign exchange sectors, and government contemplates $ 1 billion of infrastructure and other projects. initiatives are underway to improve access to finance by small and medium enterprises. labour is charged with an urgent need to improve productivity and quality of service in every area of activity, so that barbados becomes a byword for

, are liable to pay corporation tax. we are seeking new opportunities to strengthen ibfs activities, with the exploration of new markets in latin america, africa, the middle east and elsewhere. we are also introducing new products and services geared to the needs of the various markets from which we draw our clients. this conference offers an opportunity to share ideas and information on how we may perfect our strategy and message. we will begin by looking into the future a bit, with a panel and discussion on the prospects of business with cuba, a country with which barbados has a long history of diplomatic and other relationships. we will also be discussing issues of the regulatory framework, and initiatives to strengthen institutional support and facilitation of the industry. our final presenter today will suggest ways forward for the wealth management industry. we live in an interconnected world in which the execution and financing of international commerce is open to competition to all nations, large and small. we can be assured of barbados ’ future as a player in this global market, so long as we strive always to offer a superior value proposition. i look forward to today ’ s discussions towards that objective. bis central bankers ’ speeches