State sector ‘wastage’ contributing to underperformance of regional economies – CDB president

Improving on the “fragile and uneven” growth which the Caribbean experienced last year requires that borrowing member countries (BMCs) focus more attention on economic activities that allow for the increased generation of foreign exchange “to pay for the goods we import for consumption and production,” President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Dr Warren Smith said last week.

And against the backdrop of their growth challenges, Smith said, countries in the region were battling their own performance-related demons. “Government services are not being delivered costeffectively, social safety nets are still not being adequately targeted, institutional and regulatory reforms for improved private sector competitiveness are lagging behind the rest of the world and stateowned enterprises are not adhering to universally-accepted financial management policies,” the CDB boss said. He said as well that the inefficacy of fiscal policy across the region had left member countries in a condition where the state sector was guilty of tremendous wastage of resources, a condition that was hampering their future prospects.

The big challenge, Smith said, was to “reverse this pattern and place the borrowing member countries firmly on to a path of sustained and inclusive income growth with discernible improvements in living standards.”

The CDB President told the bank’s