STATEMENT ON THE FOREIGN RESERVES SITUATION
STATEMENT ON THE FOREIGN RESERVES SITUATION BY THE HON. MIA AMOR MOTTLEY, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
Barbados’ foreign reserves have dropped by more than $70 million in the last 12 days.
They now stand at around $340 million – equivalent to about four and a half weeks of import cover.
The Minister of Finance refused to answer my first question about the state of the country’s reserves and to reveal this staggering statistic today.
I am concerned about the low level that the reserves are now at. Their dramatic rate of decline and the absence of action to immediately stop the decline.
No eighth plan which is really a to do list can be the solution to this problem.
The situation is now dire; it cannot be business as usual.
This Estimates debate is a farce as it does not address our most critical problem which is the level of the international reserves.
Our reserves are the lowest since the early 1990s when we had similar difficulties, but this time our problem is both reserves and high debt, together with anemic growth. This has been bedeviling the country and for almost a decade.
The Government does not need another plan – the Prime Minister needs to act!
Office of the Leader of the Opposition
February 12, 2018