MINISTER OF FINANCE Chris Sinckler says he is prepared to accept some of the blame for where Barbados’ debt situation stands today.
With the debt to GDP ratio now hovering at 110 per cent, the Minister of Finance reminded the House of Assembly yesterday during the Appropriation Bill 2017 debate that the former administration had borrowed more than $1 billion on the international capital market over a five-year period in the lead-up to 2008, when the country was supposed to have been booming.
Admitting that the current administration had also borrowed a similar amount but over a nine-year period, the St Michael North West MP, who became Minister of Finance in 2010, told the House: “I accept the legitimate criticism for the decline in the reserves since 2013. I also take responsibility for accepting the advice of my team of senior advisers that that particular policy of going to the market every year and borrowing large amounts of money was not only unsustainable, it was a dangerous set of policies.” (GE)
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