BARBADIANS HAVE BEEN warned by an economics professor not to panic over Moody’s latest downgrade of the country’s credit rating.
“The Moody’s downgrade is far too steep, given that the present economic situation and the Government’s fiscal adjustments are in keeping with the forecasts by both the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the Central Bank (of Barbados) for the year 2014-2015,” Professor Michael Howard, in an interview with the SUNDAY SUN, said yesterday.
Howard, a senior University of the West Indies (UWI) lecturer, said: “Further, elements in the private sector of the Barbadian economy should refrain from referring to threats to the adjustment peg and devaluation, since this creates even greater uncertainty in the adjustment process.
“Everyone knows the Barbados economy is going through rough times and it is irresponsible to dwell on the negative crosstalk about devaluation.”