GOVERNMENT will meet with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials in less than two months, but Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler says no thought is being given to entering any programme with the Washington-based institution.
“We haven’t given that that type of consideration”, was his response to a suggestion from economist Professor Michael Howard that because of the depressed state of the economy and the recent rapid decline in foreign reserves, Government should consider turning to the IMF as a cheaper source of funding and balance of payment support “sooner rather than later”.
“I understand that he was saying that it might be a way to get cheaper financing, and that is a way to get cheaper financing, but of course you know it comes with conditionalities,” Sinckler said on Starcom Network yesterday.
“We are set to do an Article IV consultation with the fund in December as part of the normal process and during that time we will have varying discussions with them on all types of different issues in relation to not only the domestic, but also regional and international situations and how that will impact on Barbados’ economy. But at this stage we don’t see any necessity for that type of programme right now.”
