Govt not going to IMF

UPDATE:

Government has no intention of going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has assured.

“But to avoid it, we have to do certain things to ensure we don’t end up there,” he told a gathering during the fourth instalment of the Conversations with the Prime Minister series at Mt Lambert Community Centre on Friday night.

He said the IMF was not a solution to the country’s economic challenges.

“Under this Government, we are not likely to be in that situation because as leader of this Government, upon taking the responsibility for this country’s administration and knowing the nature of our resource base and what resources are available to us and what we can do as a people, I give this country the assurance that we will not be considering the IMF as a solution to our problems.”

A resident reminded the audience that Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced her Government’s intention to approach the IMF in an attempt to bolster the island’s tourism-dependent economy.

“To answer that question, one has to understand very clearly what the IMF means. The IMF is the International Monetary Fund. It is a bank and it is the lender of the last resort. It is when all else fails, we then turn to the lender of last resort,” he said.

The Prime Minister said fortunately, TT was not in such a need.

“But that goes with a caveat. It means that to avoid the situation that Barbados is in, we as a country, have to do certain things which may not be pleasant and popular but as we do those things, those actions will ensure that we don’t end up there.

“Because what happens is that if you borrow money and you owe people, in running our economy and there comes a time when you cannot pay the people that you owe, that is when you go to the IMF.”

Rowley said the country had a significant debt load.

“It is not overbearing but it is not small and we have to keep our eye on it. Even if we keep borrowing we keep repaying because borrowing is one thing but the real part of the borrowing is the repayment.

“Once you are in a position to repay what you are borrowing then you can comfortably stay away from the IMF. “It is when you have borrowed and you find yourself in a situation and you are running your affairs but you don’t have the money to pay the debt you have incurred, then you are candidate for the IMF.”

Rowley said if citizens were spending too much money on a lavish lifestyle or unproductive expenditure, without paying attention to the debt the country has incurred already or the debt it has incurred in maintaining the gains the country has made, “then we can be a candidate for the IMF.

“But that will not happen in TT, at least not under this administration and therefore, we are not seeing the IMF as part of our programme.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

Government has no intention of going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has assured.

"But to avoid it, we have to do certain things to ensure we don't end up there," he told a gathering during the fourth instalment of the Conversations with the Prime Minister series at Mt Lambert Community Centre on Friday night.

"To answer that question, one has to understand very clearly what the IMF means. The IMF is the International Monetary Fund. It is a bank and it is the lender of the last resort. It is when all else fails, we then turn to the lender of last resort."

He said the IMF was not a solution to the country's economic challenges.

"Under this Government, we are not likely to be in that situation because as leader of this Government, upon taking the responsibility for this country's administration and knowing the nature of our resource base and what resources are available to us and what we can do as a people, I give this country the assurance that we will not be considering the IMF as a solution to our problems."

He noted Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has gone to the IMF in an attempt to bolster the island's tourism-dependent economy.