BRDGETOWN, Barbados – MINISTER of Economic Affairs David Estwick has announced the creation of a central regulatory body for Barbados’s banking sector and credit unions as well as the establishment of a special government department to examine innovation and economic development.
According to Caribbean Net News, Estwick made these announcements last week in Barbados at two different press conferences.
He revealed that the proposal for the regulatory body was currently being reviewed by Cabinet and it would be in place before year-end. He stressed the importance of the body in light of the increased movement of capital across the region under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
“There are provisions for cross-border trading and cross-border movement of capital within the CSME. This requires us to look very closely at the organisational structure we have in place to ensure we have a comprehensive regulatory body that would not only strengthen the regulation within the banking sector itself, but also in the non-banking sectors of which credit unions represent,” Estwick said.
In keeping with its mandate to strengthen the small business sector and put it on a better footing, the Minister stated the government’s intention to establish a department to assess innovation and economic development.
He said the project would establish a policy framework to promote the consistent delivery of services, allow for the evaluation of programmes, assist in the building of an entrepreneurial culture, allow for the development of competitive and innovative small businesses, and build the capacity for small businesses to grow.
He noted the programme would also develop better policies and programmes based on empirical evidence and establish a protocol for the collection and formatting of information.
“The government will be reshaping the environment of business support to the sector. This repositioning will reduce the level of duplication of efforts across the various agencies as well as allow for the rationalisation of a number of funds that exist to provide funding to the sector.
“We envision an environment for small business development that moves from being conservative to one that is outward-looking, change-driven and growth-oriented,” Estwick declared.
Barbados News