INSIDE GRENADA WEDNESDAY December 19,2007 The Barbados Bankers’ Association (BBA) held a press conference at the Barbados Hilton on Monday December 17 to discuss matters pertinent to the banking sector on the island and the state of the Barbadian economy at large. The Association feels that the predicted recession in the United States economy could result in a slow-down in the Barbadian economy. The impact of this recession, however, is expected to be felt less in Barbados than in other Caribbean countries primarily because the Barbadians are more dependent upon the UK market. Former president of the Association, Steve Cozier, predicted that there might be some level of ‘tightening ‘with respect to credit in light of the ongoing recession in the US. According to him, ”... there’s nothing wrong with credit but it should be credit of a developmental nature rather than credit of a consumptive nature, and we therefore have to make sure that somehow or the other the developmental types of credit become more pronounced and the consumptive types of credit de-emphasized.” The rising costs of energy and food were also highlighted at the press conference. An appeal was made to Barbadians to look carefully at how they spend their money and try to exercise greater thrift. Robert Hunte, Managing Director of the Barbados National Bank (BNB), thinks that there is no all-in-one panacea to the issues that the region faces at this time and urges all those who are involved in the social partnership to seriously look at what can be done to enhance productivity and efficiency in all areas. Since most of the problems faced by Barbados are common to the region, the peoples of the Caribbean should take heed to the advice given on how to deal with our current economic plight. Additionally, we need to grow and purchase more locally produced food. This can assist us in cutting-back on foreign imports, create employment opportunities and help to stimulate the local employment.