The Mia Amor Mottley administration is being accused of “effectively calling” for another external debt restructuring, five years after the country went through a similar exercise with foreign and domestic creditors.
The charge has come from president of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Dr Ronnie Yearwood, as he made reference to concerns raised by Prime Minister Mottley over the sharp increase in interest costs, of about $150 million, on Barbados’ foreign debt in the 2022/2023 financial year.
Mottley has made the case that even if countries had variable interest rates, “international institutions and development banks ought to have a range which interest rates would flow rather than being left to the vagaries of the market”.
Delivering the DLP’s Astor B. Watts Lunchtime Lecture at party headquarters on George Street, Belleville, St Michael, yesterday, Yearwood said such a position was tantamount to attempting to change the conditions under which the country borrowed. He added this does not inspire investor confidence. (CLM)