Barbados PM says no to IMF

The Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart on Wednesday rejected a suggestion from former Prime Minister Owen Arthur that the island has no option but to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance in dealing with the ailing economy.

Speaking in the Parliament on the debate of the 2017-2018 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure Arthur, an economist, said that the move to the Washington-based financial institution was inevitable and warned that the country could not tackle its BDS$3.3 billion dollar debt crisis on its own.

But Prime Minister Stuart reiterated that his government would not go the IMF route- at least not now.

Stuart said Barbados was not bulldozed into becoming a member of the IMF and there is no fear of the international financial institution but he sees no need to seek them out at this time.

But he also admitted that the country was spending more than it was earning, which had led to enlarged foreign debt and the excess printing of money.