MEMBER of Parliament for St. James Central, Kerrie Symmonds, is urging government not to downplay the most recent downgrades and the impact it will have on the country.
Joining the debate on the Appropriation Bill 2017, Symmonds said the downgrades have two major implications.
“The first is the implication for Barbados as a sovereign State. Every loan that we pay, if you go to the terms sheets of Credit Suisse loan ... and all of the terms sheets of the loans that we have nowadays carry with them a provision that in the event of a downgrade, then the interest rate goes up,” he stated.
“The truth of the matter is as a result of the last downgrade Barbados will now pay additional interest to the tune of $5 million because we have had another downgrade. Every downgrade makes it more difficult to get us out of the hole,” he cautioned.
The Opposition MP said the effects are even more far-reaching. “Entities of a commercial nature which are registered to do business will find it more difficult to access loans on the international capital market to pursue the same growth agenda that Barbados needs in order to get itself out of the financial difficulty it is in.”
Symmonds described the performance of Government as an “exercise of financial and political recklessness”.
“When you have shrinking performances in relation to your ability to earn foreign investment and you have an increasing debt burden to the point where you are now at a debt percentage level of 108 per cent of the country’s GDP. The debt situation is what has given rise to each and every successive downgrade,” he reiterated.
He charged that the economy is smaller than it was in 2013, adding that government is paralysing economic performance by overtaxing a shrinking economic base.
Symmonds denounced suggestions that allowing a 13-year-old, who spoke at the political rally hosted by the BLP over the weekend, was child abuse, reminding that the late former Prime Minister spoke of his time in George Street at a similar age collecting bottles, packing chairs and sharing his political views. He later went on to be the leader of the country, he said.
(JH)