A “mentality disconnect” between political leaders and multilateral development bank boards is undermining crisis response in vulnerable nations, Prime Minister Mia Mottley warned on Wednesday, as she cautioned that a looming insurance crisis could destabilise Caribbean economies within a decade.

In a high-level fireside chat at the Inter-American Development Bank’s Sustainable Week conference at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lords Castle resort, Mottley delivered a characteristically blunt assessment of the global financial architecture.

Sitting alongside IDB Invest chief executive James Scriven, Mottley said that despite rhetorical support from world leaders, institutional bureaucracy continues to stall critical funding as the region battles escalating climate and economic shocks.