Prime Minister Freundel Stuart is debunking what he believes are false narratives being perpetrated on Barbadians as scare bait.
His comments were in relation to the opinions of some including Opposition Barbados Labour Party leader Mia Mottley, who claim that Barbados was in some type of economic free-fall because its foreign reserves had fallen below the recommended 12 week standard.
“All of a sudden, some strange doctrines have suddenly become part of the public discourse of Barbados. And if you don’t have 12 weeks of foreign reserves you are considered to be some outcast of a country,” he told DLP supporters at the party’s 63rd anniversary social at its George Street head quarters on Friday night.
While admitting that Barbados’ foreign reserves had fallen below the suggested standard, Stuart noted that according to documented evidence this was not an anomaly in the country’s history. In fact, he recalled that in the ten years between 1976 and 1986 when the BLP administration, led by former Prime Minister the late Tom Adams was at the helm of the country, the island’s foreign reserves never exceeded the same 12 weeks.
“You have heard a lot of talk in Barbados over the last few years about the foreign reserves and how we have fallen below the 12 week benchmark for foreign reserves and so on. Now let me say this, Barbados needs foreign reserves because most of the things we consume we have to import, so don’t let us gainsay any idea about us needing foreign reserves,” Stuart said.
The St Michael South incumbent further contended that the perpetuation of Barbados as a country in rapid decline in some circles was these people attempting to fool the Barbadian public. (SDB Media)
