Independent Senator Geoffrey Cave believes Barbados is existing on the edge.
Today during his contribution to the Appropriation Bill 2011 in the Senate, Cave suggested there were lessons to be learnt by Barbadians from what had been happening in countries such as Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy, which he said were all facing economic difficulties.
He said Greece was fortunate to have the European Union (EU) to bail them out of their woes. He added Ireland had to be rescued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the EU and this had led to a loss of government. He said Portugal was likely to face similar strictures with a likely fall of government since its austerity programmes were not being supported by the political opposition.
Cave, a retired businessman, said Spain was following a recovery model similar to Barbados’, which was to their benefit. He said Portugal’s business community and the unions had been called in by the government and they were addressing their problems through a collaborative effort. Cave said it was anticipated that country would pull through the difficult times.
He said the common lesson in those countries for Barbadians to heed was the need to cut expenditure.
However, he stressed he was not satisfied that everyone was in sync with the importance of cutting expenditure and the country continued to live on the edge.
