Downgrades should not be taken lightly

Downgrades by international rating agencies are nothing to make light of insists former Prime Minister Owen Arthur.

Entering what he considered to be “the most important economic debate” in his 33 years in Parliament, he took the stance that the successive downgrades of the island by Moody’s and Standard and Poors over the past nine years are nothing to be ignored.

“Let us not make light of the downgrades. The downgrades have implications not only for Government being able to borrow, but also if this country is going to be able to become a major international business centre, where entities are going to have to do work and borrow on the international capital market, then a rating of ‘CCC’ would preempt many international business entities that have to function on that market from ever being based in Barbados. It is a threat!” he contended.

Arthur described the island as being on a precipice, with a Government that is danger of running out of financial options and that was likely to become insolvent, and insisted that now was the time to change this.

“This country is in danger of not having a viable economy. We cannot build a society with the standard of living that we want on an economy that is dependent on tourism and we have to change that,” he said, noting that with Guyana no longer accepting Barbadian currency and being described as “a fallen angel” in some regional newspapers, “countries were making mock sport of this country”. (JMB)