$1.2bn debt swap by January 1 to fund healthcare, fight childhood obesity

Barbados is set to launch a $1.2bn debt-for-social swap by January 1, unlocking more than $320m in savings to fund healthcare programmes and tackle childhood obesity, Finance Minister Ryan Straughn has told Barbados TODAY exclusively.

The new debt-for-social swap is also designed to channel savings from restructured sovereign debt into other key social programmes, such as education and heritage.

Straughn said he would go to Parliament next month to formalise the financial arrangement, which will unlock more than $320m in debt savings to fund healthcare programmes and tackle a childhood obesity crisis in which 42 per cent of children are overweight or obese.