Whatever may be the immediate impact of the Standard & Poor’s downgrade, any sensible comment on the situation must recognize the historical capacity of the people of this country to ride out recessionary storms and the like.
We are not and have never been a nation of defeatists; nor of underachievers. Buried deep within our genetic loins is the determination of those who made the crossing in perilous times when death and deprivation stared them daily in the face and followed them onto the shores of this fair land.
On the other part of our Barbadian DNA is the equally hardy and ingrained attitude of never say die that has traditionally conquered aggression and avoided danger by drawing on our natural reservoir of blood, sweat and tears.
A downgrade to junk bond status is not something that anyone in his right mind will welcome, and certainly the Freundel Stuart administration must be disappointed that the rating agency did not appreciate the perspective of the local policymakers and technocrats who must have argued that local initiatives were working and that the downgrade was neither appropriate nor necessary.
Yet the die is cast, and we must now, individually, draw on that historical resilience, which is our natural inheritance, and rededicate ourselves to the task of walking hand in hand with leaders in commerce, the unions, all organizations and groups in our society to return our country’s economic profile and credit rating to investment grade.
There must be no doubt that we can do it, for the experiences of some of our neighbours will have shown us how disastrous it can be when we fail to put our hands jointly to the plough.
These are some things the Government cannot do, and is not expected to, but, in the grand scheme of our national affairs, its duty is that of shaping and framing the appropriate policies within which the men and women of commerce, and indeed everyone of us, can be expected to make our contribution. We have to look to national leadership of a high order to pull us upward. The Prime Minister has said that while he respects the views of the credit agency, he disagrees with it and that the Government is on the right path. There are those who will disagree with him, and in our political system we can expect divergent views.
But what has to be made clear now is that nothing must be allowed to break the confidence of our people in our national ability to defeat the crisis that has befallen us. At present, we are experiencing some of the fallout from international developments, and our unemployment is beginning to rise; and even though our foreign reserves remain adequate, we have experienced a $63 million loss for the first six months of this year.
So long as we combine national determination with appropriate policies and inspiring leadership, we can protect the patrimony of future generations and maintain the legacy of our forefathers, who worked determinedly that this small nation of ours could always pay its way.
