FORMER PRIME MINISTER Owen Arthur says there is much in the assessments from both Moody’s and Standard &?Poor’s (S&P) to indicate this country’s economy is in a mess and crying out for restructuring.
At a Press briefing yesterday morning in his Opposition Leader’s office, Arthur said: “It is distressing to hear that everything is under control and that the policies are working when we know these things are not true.
“Yes, we have a difference of opinion between rating agencies. They came to the country at different times, but on the weight of evidence the Government would do well to take them seriously,” he said.
He said the crisis was real and this was not a time for political posturing and public relations.
“The seriousness of Moody’s representation is that the stability of our exchange rate, [which] has been the anchor of our economic stability for the last 40 years, is now being put in serious question.
“I believe it falls to the Minister of Finance to be serious and reflective and to understand the need for us to change course rather than to treat this as a matter on which political games are to be played.
“This is not about public relations now. It concerns the economic survival of this country, its stability and, more fundamentally so, the welfare of Barbadians and our ability to maintain the quality of life,” he said.
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