The following is a statement from Opposition Leader Mia Mottley on Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s comments on the latest downgrades from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.
I NEVER THOUGHT that I would have to come to the country to ask Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to stop speaking. But of late his public utterances are even more offensive than his customary silence of indifference.
Even more upsetting than the second downgrade in the period of a week (this time from Moody’s this morning) – and number 19 – is the Prime Minister’s reprehensible response in his remarks yesterday on this country’s state of affairs. This is not the first time that a Prime Minister has presided over a downgrade of our Credit Rating. But it is the first time that we are afflicted with a leader who does not understand the gravity of the problem.
The Prime Minister has demonstrated a total ignorance of the subject matter. Indeed, his response places Barbadians at risk of being viewed internationally as either economically illiterate at best, or at worse as contemptuous and arrogant.
The Prime Minister is saying that to take credit ratings seriously is to question our independence. What Prime Minister Stuart does not see, but what the average Barbadian who pay bills understands, is that if you run your affairs so badly that you are dependent on the people lending to you, then you do lose your independence.
If you want to be independent, you need to run your affairs so that you are not dependent on anybody else.
For instance, this means having high and rising international reserves, not reserves on the edge that will need to be bolstered through foreign borrowing to stop them running to zero.
It means not having among the largest annual financing needs in the history of our country. These are the factors that go into a Credit Rating. Or the idle comments that come from him and the Minister of Finance’s mouths in the last two months.
The sad fact is that when Government runs its affairs so that it is forced us to beg on special terms with Swiss banks like Credit Suisse; or is forced to beg Sandals to come to Barbados on whatever terms Sandals wants; or forced to fog off this country’s State assets – it is this government, this Prime Minister, that is stripping Barbados of our independence.
He has done more damage to our state of independence than any other Prime Minister in the 50 years of independent Barbados.
Mr Prime Minister it is your remit is to solve Barbados’ problems not seek to mull over them and dismiss them as if they do not exist.
My fellow Barbadians, it is clear that this Democratic Labour Party government has been paralysed for the last three weeks. All we have heard from them is hot air – news of councils to be appointed and Advisory Committees to be established or having to be established – and those are to report in two weeks’ time.
This date is after the Government will pass its Estimates (its Budget) into law next week in Parliament. Is the Government going to come back and change the Estimates next month after the committee reports?
This whole thing is farcical.
In addition, the ignorance being paraded by the Prime Minister ignores the consequences for Barbadian companies whose borrowing is negatively affected whether in terms of who they can borrow from and the rates of interest at which they can borrow. We saw this lead to the re-domiciling of our oldest company, Sagicor, previously Barbados Mutual, to Bermuda.
What is even more tragic is that the Prime Minister and his Government have failed to come with a credible plan to get us out of this economic mess, which they created.
Sugar is not earning for us; tourism is not bringing in the level of receipts commensurate with the increased arrivals, and neither manufacturing nor international business have been able to raise their heads in this economy.
My fellow Barbadians, I urge you to come out on Saturday afternoon in Jubilee Gardens and show this Government that you are fed up with their indifference; fed-up with their incompetent management of our great country. We need to show them by that we have had enough. These downgrades are but the most recent tangible evidence of how far down the totem pole that Freundel Stuart and this Government has taken us.
It is not our fault that this government has brought us to our knees, but it will be our fault if we remain on our knees.
So the only question for you my friends is “are you ready to do your part to rescue our country?”
Nothing can happen if you talk but do not act.
I look forward to seeing you in your numbers on Saturday, at 4 p.m. at Jubilee Gardens as we march through Bridgetown.
The destiny of our country is in our hands.
The future of our children is equally in our hands. (PR)