Straughn: Call the IMF

Article by SHERRYLYN CLARKE

OUTSPOKEN ECONOMIST Ryan Straughn thinks the time has come for Barbados to enter an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

Saying Government had clearly demonstrated it was incapable of fixing the country’s fiscal problems on its own, the former Barbados Economic Society president said the Freundel Stuart administration should admit that it needed help.

He was speaking this morning at Hilton Barbados Resort during a Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry breakfast discussion on the topic The Merits and Demerits of a Formal IMF Programme.

Ask by a member of the audience if Barbados should turn to the IMF for help, Straughn said: “The short answer is simply yes. There is nothing wrong with admitting that you need help.”

The economist said Government had not been able to produce required results fast enough and that it had to take action to build credibility while restoring confidence in Barbados.(SC)