Barbados’ economic recovery drive will hinge on deeper private-sector investment, said a regional lender on Tuesday, as it signalled plans to expand direct financing to businesses to support the island’s homegrown fiscal programme.

Top executives at CAF (the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean) pressed a pro-business message as they began talks with Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn. The meeting sought new ways to fund businesses and support the government’s economic recovery plan, BERT 3.0.

Dr Stacy Richards-Kennedy, CAF’s regional manager for the Caribbean, said: “There’s an interesting data point from a recent study that helps frame why we are here today. In developing countries, nine out of ten jobs are in the private sector. If we go a step further, this means that in countries that are serious about inclusive economic growth, jobs, exports, and overall resilience, the private sector cannot be on the margins of development. It has to be at the centre.”