Donville Inniss

The blacklisting of Barbados by the European Union could have serious implications for the island’s economy, International Business Minister Donville Inniss has warned.

A day after the EU released a global tax haven list of 17 countries considered non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, Inniss said yesterday that the decision to include Barbados could impact negatively on the country, as it could have the effect of international institutions refusing to conduct business in this jurisdiction or experiencing increased cost when trading with the country.

However, he assured that Government would be fighting to get the country delisted as soon as possible.

“When multinational groupings, as particularly as powerful as the EU is, issue these kinds of lists and reports, they are picked up by other groupings and organizational bodies, including financial institutions, who may then decide that the cost of doing business or financing projects in jurisdictions like ours then has to be increased. Or, they may very well go the full gamut of saying that we restrict doing business in domiciles such as Barbados,” Inniss said at a press conference convened to discuss the EU blacklist.

“We are very determined to ensure that Barbados is removed from that list of uncooperative jurisdictions,” the minister added, noting that there would be penalties for being on the list and Barbados would have to wait to see what those would be.

He was adamant that Barbados is not a non-cooperative jurisdiction in taxation matters or any other matter.

(CARIBBEAN360)