Joseph Atherley hoping for an ease

Former Opposition leader Bishop Joseph Atherley hopes that Barbados’ next International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme does not mean more economic hardships for Barbadians.

Saying he was not surprised by Government’s move to secure more IMF funding, Bishop Atherley stated his fear is that citizens would be forced to endure stringent measures that may make it difficult for them to cope in the current economic climate.

“The question is, once you re-enter a new arrangement, what will be the conditions attached to that? What does this mean for Barbadians who are already facing difficult economic times? But I have been saying since last year that I believe this Government will have to go back to the IMF for funding,” he said.

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced on September 9 that Government intended to enter a second arrangement with the IMF to get financing for the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) to the tune of US$130 million (BDS$260 million) under a three-year agreement.

Barbados current IMF-backed programme comes to an end this month but according to Prime Minister Mottley the new arrangement will also give the country access to another US$210 million (BDS$420 million) under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) established by the IMF in May, to open up funding to countries to invest in resilience building.

Atherley told Barbados TODAY that while Barbadians are awaiting the full details of the provisions that will be included in the new arrangement, the reality stands that the country still has no platforms to generate growth revenues and no credit worthiness making it difficult to go to the  international financial market to seek assistance.

He also noted that while there was a relaxation of the stringent measures under the first arrangement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BERT 2.0 means the country will have to face the music.

“Other countries have gone there before and faced the music. The Barbados economy is not growing to such an extent and at a rate that people in the international markets will be impressed with what we are doing and therefore be willing to entrust us with funds. We are not operating at an investment rate right now.

“If we were lucky enough to get somebody to lend us something, it would be at exorbitant rates. So in a situation where you are not generating your revenue through export growth, in a context where people on the international financial market look at you with closed eyes, I don’t think the Government has a choice but to go back to the IMF for a second term.

“When the General Elections were called for January, I repeated that. I believe one of the reasons the Government called the elections a year and a half early is because they knew mid year, this year, the current arrangement with the IMF would come to an end and that they would have to renew that,” he said.

The former opposition leader added that the Government should be informing Barbadians about plans for the future of the country’s pension policy and about the plans for state owned enterprises.

“We have to focus on managing our expenditure, generating revenues. Those things have implications for the Barbadian public.” (AH)