Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has signalled that Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn is likely to have full responsibility for that portfolio in the future.
She gave this indication yesterday while saying that she was “very proud” of Straughn’s delivery of the Budget on Monday.
With Barbados’ arrangement with the International Monetary Fund scheduled to end in a few months, Mottley said during her contribution to the Budget debate that this meant the country would have to return to the international market for financing for the first time since 2018.
“And while I do not claim any major things, I do know that I have a bit of credibility internationally and I do believe that I need to leverage that credibility for the benefit of this country in terms of our re-entry into the [capital] market,” she said.
“Once I am satisfied that I have done so, I will have the greatest pleasure in removing from myself the portfolio of Ministry of Finance.”
In commending Straughn’s presentation, the Prime Minister shared that she would be 60 years old this year.
Her message to Barbadians was that “if something should happen to me, God forbid tomorrow, I know that I have left in your hands a capable [and] a confident young man who has acquitted himself with distinction as the
Member for Christ Church East Central, but equally as the Minister in the Ministry of Finance”.
“And I will tell you the public truth that the only thing standing in his way . . . now being fully Minister of Finance is the fact that we come out of an IMF programme in May or June of this year and we are going to have to go to the market for the first time since this Government has come to office,” she said in explaining how she wanted to lead Barbados’ effort to re-enter the international capital market. (SC)
