Obama will forgive 100% of Caribbean debt!

[Lazie]

Lazie the IMF loans used to come with contingencies such as how much can be spent on health, education social programs etc. In other words the IMF demanded that governments reduce their spending on social programs which invariably led to social unrest and riots. The Asian countries such as Malaysia and Thailand decided against the IMF and went their own way and ssucceeded. Since then the IMF has admitted that their policies were counterproductive and have said they would adjust them. Part of the reason was that many countries started to copy Jamaica's example(believe it or not) and there was a signifcant decline in countries asking for IMF loans or renewing loans after they were paID off. So much so that the MF had a surplus of money to lend and not the countries to lend it to.

I'm not disputing that Rudi! There are other bilateral and multilateral agencies out there. Futhermore I've indicated that they (IMF) did admit that their policies were not always the best. The thing is, people didn't want to be responsible .. suh going to agencies such as the WB, IADB and the others wasn't an option.

Now .. if what is said of Obama is true ... how much is it going to help us?

[1of1]

You might not agree with what was done eg" running with it", what I am referring to is the paying of the IMF debt which is a good thing as it allows present government to run wid it or not to run wid it, whichever decision they chose all I am saying don't go back to the imf

[Lazie]

You might not agree with what was done eg" running with it", what I am referring to is the paying of the IMF debt which is a good thing as it allows present government to run wid it or not to run wid it, whichever decision they chose all I am saying don't go back to the imf

Well, we differ on that then 1of1. As I see it, based on the level of our national debt and the amount being paid to service the debt annually, I see nothing wrong with taking a low interest loan from the IMF (if we qualify) rather than the high interest money from the capital markets.

[1of1]

It is in the elected governments hands. We will see what happens, anything positive in the long term will be good.