Barbados Minister Ryan Straughn Stresses Urgency in Economic Progress towards 2030 Targets

Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn believes Barbados is making steady progress towards achieving its economic targets for 2030, but has underscored the critical importance of timely action from all players in the economy.

Addressing the nation’s progress, Straughn told Barbados TODAY: “I think for us, the sooner we can get things done, the better. And that means from the banks to the individuals, to the credit unions, to the businesses and all of that. We have seen some progress, but of course, we had a significant disruption with COVID, both in the logistics as well as the financing there.”

The minister pointed to recent government measures aimed at building resilience, such as the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on water tanks and electrical pumps, “so that as we seek to repair and replace more mains in a more accelerated fashion, the disruption to households will be less, but that requires people to go either through the water authority or through the persons who are actually making those tanks, to do that quickly.”

Straughn also stressed the importance of private sector participation in modernising the economy.

“We want to be able to see more uptake, not just of renewable energy, but of changing out of the digital system, the analogue systems, moving to digital payments, more e-commerce and that type of thing, putting the economy on a real 21st-century trajectory,” he said. “But that means private people, the private sector, wanting to make those changes, because if we don’t, then the rest of the world is just going to leave us by.”

The minister addressed scepticism among some businesses towards these changes, warning against clinging to outdated methods.

“If you attempt to do the same thing that you were doing in the year 2000…anybody who wants to stay in that lane, they’re really just committing effectively economic suicide, because you’re not changing with the times, putting yourself to be as competitive as the others,” said Straughn. “Amazon is a beautiful example of where people can go online now, purchase what they want, bring it into Barbados, pay duties, and it’s still less than what they may be retailing for here. [This] should be a clear signal to the business community that they need to change the way that they’re doing things. So some are doing that, some aren’t…. And we see a lot of people who want to be on the cutting edge, and you will realise that in the next 10 to 15 years, it will be those persons who have made the leap that will be the strongest in the end.”