The adage that there are only two constants in life – death and taxes, is proving true in this post COVID-19 landscape. Managing a business, a household, or a country is an increasingly difficult task and riddled with a growing number of challenges.At the micro level, many households were forced to tap into their rainy day savings as sudden and pervasive job losses became a feature of the period. For government, the pandemic resulted in significant, unplanned expenditure and borrowing.Barbados, having experienced years of economic upheaval after the global financial collapse, experienced an unprecedented debt crisis. And in 2018 we entered a voluntary default arrangement with our creditors.That move significantly reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio and paved the way for the country to finally borrow on the international market at reduced rates.But as we indicated, the path is never smooth and seldom linear for countries and citizens of the developing world. Our open economy is tied to major trading partners such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
