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Posted: 6/30/2009 12:36:51 PM
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer says Antigua and Barbuda is not in the best of shape economically and he is now looking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a financial rescue package.
“I think that any responsible government under the circumstances would want to exercise whatever options are available to address the current situation,” he told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) in an interview yesterday.
However, he warned that would not be a case of IMF simply “dictating” to his government, which is also looking into a number of other financing options, including a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), as well as support from “friendly governments”.
Spencer, who just last week signed on to the Venezuela-led ALBA initiative, also sought to dispel the notion of the MF as a harsh economic bush doctor, whose pre scri ption amounts to “bad” medicine forced down the throats of countries.
In fact, he suggested that the international lending agency which has come to be associated with stringent and austere remedies has changed somewhat.
He has also taken comfort in the fact that other regional governments, including fellow members of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), are also going the IMF route.
Opposition Leader Lester Bird has said that he would “personally lead the protest in every nook and cranny of this nation” if the government goes to the IMF without a mandate from the people.
Posted: 6/30/2009 12:36:51 PM
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer says Antigua and Barbuda is not in the best of shape economically and he is now looking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a financial rescue package.
“I think that any responsible government under the circumstances would want to exercise whatever options are available to address the current situation,” he told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) in an interview yesterday.
However, he warned that would not be a case of IMF simply “dictating” to his government, which is also looking into a number of other financing options, including a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), as well as support from “friendly governments”.
Spencer, who just last week signed on to the Venezuela-led ALBA initiative, also sought to dispel the notion of the MF as a harsh economic bush doctor, whose pre scri ption amounts to “bad” medicine forced down the throats of countries.
In fact, he suggested that the international lending agency which has come to be associated with stringent and austere remedies has changed somewhat.
He has also taken comfort in the fact that other regional governments, including fellow members of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), are also going the IMF route.
Opposition Leader Lester Bird has said that he would “personally lead the protest in every nook and cranny of this nation” if the government goes to the IMF without a mandate from the people.
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