(Barbados Nation) Barbados has applied to the Inter-American Development Bank for a BDS$66 million loan to shore up its finances.
The loan application is in the “preparation” stage and if approved by the bank’s board of directors would “provide the country with balance of payment support”, according to the IDB, in a loan document posted on its website.
However, the bank has expressed concern that Barbados’ fiscal situation has worsened.
The loan document specifically points to:
• a weak tax administration, which was “dispersed across several ministries, Government departments and agencies, including the Customs Department where it said 30 per cent of those paying value added tax filed returns late and only ten per cent of the Customs declarations were “post clearance audited”.
