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PM: IMF details to be revealed during budget speech
Antigua Sun
Full details of the agreement struck between government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be revealed during the 2010 budget presentation on 30th November, 2009.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer during his Independence Day message as he called on citizens and residents to prepare to answer the call of action, when full details of the nation’s fiscal consolidation programme is provided.
“As a responsible and independent government, having fully assessed the challenges presented by the global economic crisis and the debt burden and having engaged in widespread consultations, we have decided to present a fiscal consolidation programme to the IMF in an effort to secure technical and financial assistance in implementing the policies and measures identified in our National Economic and Social Transformation Plan,” Spencer told the nation.
Full details of the meetings held recently involving the government and the IMF were not made public, but the news that government had engaged the organisation in dialogue in order to receive assistance was met by widespread criticism in some sections of society, including the opposition Antigua Labour Party.
Much to their chagrin, however, the process has advanced, and yet again, members of the public are being assured that the changes expected to come about in the fiscal consolidation programme will be in the best interest of all.
“I wish to say to you the citizens and residents of this nation, that the programme we will embark upon with the assistance of the IMF is not an IMF dictated programme.
“It is our programme. It is a programme conceptualised by an independent and responsible Antigua and Barbuda,” the prime minister assured.
Spencer said there is still the need for some fine-tuning, so that the targets presented by the government and endorsed by the fund are manageable and attainable.
This will be done when the IMF returns to the country. The discussions with the IMF in October focussed on economic developments in Antigua and Barbuda, and on the elements of the Fiscal Consolidation Programme, which involves measures that will increase revenue, reduce expenditure and improve Antigua and Barbuda’s debt position.
Reducing expenditure on wages and salaries by 20 per cent by 2012, continuing to reduce the size of the public sector through a programme of attrition over the next 5-7 years, reducing the number of items in the basket of zero-rated goods under the ABST, increasing the non-citizen land holding licence from five per cent to 10 per cent, and outsourcing some of the services government currently provides through a competitive bidding process are among several points listed in the programme.
“Our nation has survived serious crises and we have overcome momentous challenges. Whatever the challenges ahead, we shall overcome. Your government is fully prepared to face the challenges.”
We face them with a positive outlook and with the determination to overcome them. If we work as a family, it can be achieved.
Prime Minister Spencer has called for a united approach in addressing the economic challenges being experienced, in an effort to overcome the global economic crises that poses a serious threat to Antigua and Barbuda. He remains optimistic that the nation will weather the storm.