Over two years after Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris assumed the office of Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, he is yet to keep his promises to place monies from the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation (SIDF) account into the Consolidated Fund and reverse the Land for Debt Initiative.
Leader of the Opposition and former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas pointed out Tuesday that the promises were not only made in the Team Unity manifesto and to the electorate, but also to an IMF team that visited St. Kitts and Nevis in July of last year.
An IMF Team is presently in the Federation and Dr. Douglas during Tuesday’s “Ask the Leader” call-in programme on Kyss 102.5 FM, Dr. Douglas quoted from the July 2016 Article IV Consultation following an meeting with Dr. Harris in which the IMF stated: ‘The IMF welcomed efforts by the (Timothy Harris-led Team Unity) government to integrate the SIDF funds with the government’s Consolidated Fund and called for “a clear framework for resolving the debt-land swap, crucial to preserve the credibility of debt restructuring, the hard-earned gains in debt sustainability, and financial sector stability.’
“Dr. Harris has misled the people, has deceived the people and said the SIDF monies should be in the Consolidated Fund. He has been in office for two years, He knows if he reverses it, the national debt will go back up and reverse the hard-earned gains (as a result of the policies of my Labour Government,” Dr. Douglas told listeners.
He noted that following a three-year freeze of the salaries and pensions of civil servants and former civil servants, a five percent increase was granted by his Labour Government over a three-year period.
“These are the hard-earned gains, the IMF is talking about,” said Dr. Douglas, who said it will be interesting to see the outcome of the current Article IV assessment by the team of IMF officials now in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Washington-based financial institution noted that the St. Kitts and Nevis economy recorded strong growth at about 5 percent, recording the strongest growth in the Caribbean region during 2013 to 2015,” the same year the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Administration of then Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas left office.
The IMF predicted growth to moderate to 3.5 percent in 2016 and 3 percent, on average, over the medium term.
However, the Basseterre-based Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has twice reduced the growth rate of St. Kitts and Nevis for 2016. The ECCB in its January 2017 update, estimates the growth rate for St. Kitts and Nevis at 2.84 percent.
Based on the policies of the then St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party administration the Debt to GDP ratio would drop below 60 percent in 2017, below the ECCB’s Debt-to-GDP target of 60 percent by 2020.