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We don't want to end up like Jamaica, says former Barbados PM
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Former Barbados prime minister Owen Arthur is pointing an accusing finger at the island’s central bank, which he said had been printing money to maintain the Freundel Stuart administration’s unsustainable fiscal deficit.
Arthur, delivering the inaugural independence lecture of the School of Politics, warned that if remedial action was not taken, Barbados could suffer the same fate as its Caribbean Community (CARICOM) partners, Guyana and Jamaica.
Owen Arthur
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“The indulgence of the Central Bank is therefore a threat to Barbados’ monetary, economic and national stability,” Arthur warned.
He told the audience on Sunday night that the Central Bank had printed BDS$370 million (One BDS dollar = US$0.50 cents) to purchase Government Treasury Bills, which had caused the country’s foreign exchange reserves to plunge.
“The printing of money on this scale to accommodate government’s fiscal deficit is the chief factor that has triggered the dramatic plunge downward in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
“If this plunge downward is not immediately checked, the economic affairs of Barbados will enter a new and very dangerous territory,” he warned, adding reminding the audience of the economic and social problems of Guyana and Jamaica as a result of excessive increases in money supply and inflation.
Last week, the US-based international ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) revised downwards the long-term rating for Barbados — the second downgrade in four months.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Former Barbados prime minister Owen Arthur is pointing an accusing finger at the island’s central bank, which he said had been printing money to maintain the Freundel Stuart administration’s unsustainable fiscal deficit.
Arthur, delivering the inaugural independence lecture of the School of Politics, warned that if remedial action was not taken, Barbados could suffer the same fate as its Caribbean Community (CARICOM) partners, Guyana and Jamaica.
Owen Arthur 1/1 “The indulgence of the Central Bank is therefore a threat to Barbados’ monetary, economic and national stability,” Arthur warned.
He told the audience on Sunday night that the Central Bank had printed BDS$370 million (One BDS dollar = US$0.50 cents) to purchase Government Treasury Bills, which had caused the country’s foreign exchange reserves to plunge.
“The printing of money on this scale to accommodate government’s fiscal deficit is the chief factor that has triggered the dramatic plunge downward in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
“If this plunge downward is not immediately checked, the economic affairs of Barbados will enter a new and very dangerous territory,” he warned, adding reminding the audience of the economic and social problems of Guyana and Jamaica as a result of excessive increases in money supply and inflation.
Last week, the US-based international ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) revised downwards the long-term rating for Barbados — the second downgrade in four months.
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