Manufacturers warned on Friday that industry layoffs could become unavoidable if rapidly rising operating costs continue to outpace sales, as they look towards the winter tourist season and stronger exports for relief.
“Costs are rising; but hopefully, with the coming tourist season, things will improve. The costs are rising, and if the costs are rising, there is only so much they [manufacturers] can do,” President of the Barbados Manufacturers Association (BMA), Rosie Noel, told Barbados TODAY.
“We are hoping to keep costs down as much as possible, but it’s hard with what’s going on in the world. If the costs are up, and the sales are not, it’s a possibility [of layoffs]; but that is a last resort, usually, for us manufacturers. That’s the last resort. We try to work as we see fit.”
Noel said the industry’s ability to compete nationally and abroad was being weakened by the higher costs manufacturers here face compared with their overseas rivals.
“Competition is a big issue for us…because, if our costs are up, our competitors, they don’t have as many costs as we do, and it is very difficult to compete on the market. It is very difficult to compete export-wise as well, but we still try, and we are working on exports now. We want to get exports up, and we want to get more foreign exchange coming in.”
Asked to describe the current state of manufacturing, the BMA president said industry was looking ahead to improved production and export performance, but stressed that costs remained the central concern.
“We are hoping for an increase in output soon” and “an increase in exports as well”, she said, but noted that manufacturers “have to work on our costs”. (EJ)
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