I take this opportunity to thank NCB Capital Markets Barbados Limited for its willingness to share with us their experience and knowledge gained from the Jamaica Debt restructuring exercise in 2013. On June 1, 2018, the newly-elected administration announced the unprecedented decision that Barbados had decided to suspend the servicing of commercial foreign debt payments and restructure both domestic and external debt.
The purpose was to limit foreign reserves outflows, while securing meaningful and gradual debt reduction, thereby reducing financing needs and restoring debt sustainability. The subsequent launch of a comprehensive domestic debt restructuring exercise on September 7 2018, as a critical component of the Barbados Economic Recovery Transformation (BERT) Programme, achieved near unanimous acceptance of the debt exchange proposals, with 97% participation by creditors.