Explain your economic policy

By Pat Clarke
| Sun, May 27, 2012 - 12:01 AM

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The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) needs a consistent and aggressive communication policy, especially on the economy, which should be repeated by every candidate and Member of Parliament.

“Keeping Barbados stable in the worst economic crisis the world has ever seen”, or some similar policy, would allow the DLP to keep showing the link between the global economy and the Barbados economy.

The party needs to be more aggressive in debates on the economy and let Barbadians know that the tax increases and other fiscal consolidation measures it implemented were necessary to protect the foreign reserves, thereby keeping the country functioning and out of the hands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Government could not realistically let people continue to spend excessively primarily on imports, while the tourists who bring in the foreign exchange were not spending. The foreign reserves would have quickly been depleted and the IMF would have been at the door. We now have more than enough foreign reserves to hold us through this period while our social services – education, health and so on – are still very much intact.

The DLP needs to be consistent in communicating and explaining why it took certain actions, while at the same time reminding people that the Barbados Labour Party does not have any miracle solution.