{
  "id": 3024195,
  "title": "Barbados Customs Revenue Loss Tops US$1.5 Billion",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/barbados-customs-revenue-loss-tops-us-1-5-billion",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-24T12:45:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Rio Times",
    "slug": "the-rio-times",
    "url": "https://www.riotimesonline.com/barbados-customs-revenue-loss-tops-us1-5-billion/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Barbados' Customs and Excise Department reported a staggering loss of over US$1.5 billion in revenue between 2023 and July 2026, primarily due to concessions, waivers, and suspected fraudulent practices. The department collected BDS$5.46 billion (US$2.73 billion) during this period, but lost more than BDS$3 billion (US$1.5 billion) to various factors. Acting head Lynette Padmore disclosed the figures to the public. Concessions and waivers, as well as suspected fraudulent practices, contributed to the losses. However, no specific breakdown of the losses by category has been published. The Barbados dollar is pegged at a fixed rate of two to one against the US dollar, meaning the US dollar figures are always half of the Barbados dollar amounts. Concessions are legal reductions in duty or tax owed on imports, granted for public purposes like investment and development, while waivers are complete exemptions from duty or tax. Suspected evasion involves undervaluation and under-invoicing of goods, which are fraudulent practices. The IMF also reported that approved waivers exceed 7,000, costing 5.8 percent of GDP annually in foregone revenues. The country has announced plans for a Monitoring and Enforcement Unit to ensure concessions serve their public purpose and prevent misuse.",
  "summary": "Barbados customs revenue losses exceeded US$1.5 billion from 2023 to July 2026, according to the Customs department. The figure includes concessions, waivers, and suspected tax evasion. The post Barbados Customs Revenue Loss Tops US$1.5 Billion appeared first on The Rio Times .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}