The island’s main creditors have given the green light to the Government’s debt restructuring plan.
There were initial reports that some creditors had rejected the offer made on September 19, which sought to exchange existing Government paper, for new debt instruments.
The plan proposes a cut to interest rates and longer terms to maturity.
The development comes ahead of a planned address to the nation by Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Sunday at 5 p.m. She is expected to provide a wide ranging update on measures to resuscitate the ailing Barbados economy.
Last month, Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes said the Government needed the approval of at least 75 per cent of the country’s debt holders to proceed with the exchange.
He maintained that the debt restructuring exercise was necessary to restore stability to the Barbados economy.
“The debt restructuring is a critical component in helping us to restore our overall macroeconomic balances to engender confidence to potential investors, and that is how you regain your access to capital markets. … We want to bring the debt ratio down to approximately 60 percent by 2033,” he said. – Barbados TODAY
I am pleased to see that at last that Barbados is seeing to take back ownership of its assets and the economy.
However, it is about time that the offshore hotels, and businesses pay their share of their taxes and/or benefits that they have enjoyed over the past years, and future years to come.
This will help to aliveate some of the strain from the backs of the working class Barbadians.