World Bank predicts growth still, but not as much Article by June 9, 2021 The World Bank has revised downwards its growth forecast for Barbados as it warned of continued struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath in emerging and developing economies, despite a fast global post-recession recovery. The international financial institution also cautioned, in its June 2021 Global Economic Prospect report, that recovery in the Caribbean and Latin America could be severely impacted by major disruptions related to natural disasters. In the case of Barbados, the World Bank’s latest prediction is for growth to be about 3.3 per cent this year before climbing to 8.5 per cent next year. This is less optimistic than the 4.4 per cent the World Bank forecast for this year, back in March. At that time it had predicted a growth rate of 7.2 per cent for Barbados in 2022.