For the past two months, Government Officials have been working assiduously on the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan for Saint Lucia, with a focus on stimulating all aspects of the economy. The Government employed a three-phased approach to addressing the COVID-19 situation, with the first phase focusing on managing the healthcare component. This involved an increase in the number of healthcare personnel and personal protective equipment, the establishment of isolation and quarantine centres, and increasing local testing capacity for COVID-19.
Acting Permanent Secretary and Director of Finance, Esther Rigobert, stated that the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan aims to bring about hope and instill confidence at the household and business level. The second phase of the Plan focuses on bringing support to the most vulnerable and persons directly impacted by COVID-19, such as those in the tourism, agriculture, and transportation sectors.
“Many persons were directly impacted: they lost their income and their jobs, and there was a sense of fear looming over St. Lucia. So, the second phase would be to bring immediate support. Some of the measures announced in the Social Stabilization Plan covered areas such as income support, the feeding programme, and ensuring persons who were out of work got that support to at least keep going. Under phase three, the focus was on recovery and resilience. Recovery in terms of allowing persons who have either lost their jobs, source of income, or who need support to restart their business, to get that support either from the government or the private sector and financial institutions.”
Over thirty agencies, including the Chamber of Commerce, banks, and credit unions were engaged for their feedback, support, and contribution in the formulation of the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan. Chief Economist in the Department of Finance, Janai Leonce, noted that although the plan takes into account short, medium and long term initiatives, emphasis will be placed on the immediate to short term gains, over the next six months.
“Some of the issues in the discussions have been: How can we re-position the economy? How can we diversify the society? We also had discussions on food security, agro-processing, and lending to the MSMEs. Cognizant of those the Plan is going to have some of those elements in there. Persons would hear or see part of government’s plan to incentivize the offerings for financial support to MSMEs and to also repurpose some of our donor funds towards stimulating agro-processing and stimulating the adoption of digital technologies.”
Executive Director for the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, Fiona Hinkson, explained that the planning process was heavily stakeholder-driven and inclusive, with line ministries engaging various stakeholders, such as the Chamber of Commerce, manufacturers, and other business associations.
“Internally we met as a Government to discuss the various proposals that we got from the business associations, to assess them, and to see how government can put together an appropriate response to the needs of the citizenry.”
She added that the Government also established a multi-sectoral committee, comprising of over thirty stakeholders from the public and private sectors, including representatives from employers and trade unions. Guided by a framework, the committee made recommendations to the Government on actions to help the economy recover within the immediate to short term.
“The framework basically speaks to economic recovery and economic resilience pillars, because we felt it was necessary, not only to look at recovery in the economy but also to consider building resilience in order to protect us from future events like what we went through, during COVID-19. For the economic recovery, we spoke first to the fiscal measures that would assist in stimulating the economy. Secondly, we considered the fast track shovel ready projects that would help to build economic activity and provide jobs for persons who are displaced. There are four resilience pillars: strengthening the productive sectors, strengthening social protection systems, health outcomes, and disaster risk mitigation.”
The Acting Permanent Secretary in the Department of Finance says that the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan will touch every facet of the economy.
“There’s a bit for each sector: some for the households, some for small businesses and some for property owners. Once the Plan is launched I am sure you will get all the necessary details. The aim is to bring about and instill hope and confidence that we can come out of this crisis a stronger people; a stronger nation.”