SKN national debt stands at 2 billion dollars
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts- THE Federation’s Financial Secretary, Janet Harris, recently announced that the territory’s national debt currently stands at a substantial EC $2 billion and encouraged the private sector and general public to ‘chip in’ so that progress can be made to reduce the whopping economic liability.
At a press conference last week, officials from the Ministry of Finance declared that the total debt of the Federation, which is a compilation of central government, Nevis Island Administration and public corporation debt, stands at 169% of the gross domestic product—or just over EC $2 billion.
As some of the largest economies in the world continue to stumble, the government of St. Kitts-Nevis has stated that it will do everything in its power to control the national debt.
In terms of the government’s role in reducing this debt, J. Harris said that the matter is under careful advisory and more proactive measures are to be put in place in the near future.
“We have a consultancy that is ongoing with respect to the debt, and out of this some options have been put forward as to how
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St. Kitts-Nevis Financial Secretary, Janet Harris
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the debt can be managed,” she said.
While no “actual reforms” have been approved by Cabinet at this time, the Financial Secretary was quick to point out that the privatization of land sales will likely be at the top of the government’s list of potential revenue earners.
One step already taken by government to manage the nation’s debt was to recently obtain an EC $150 million bond that enabled the refinancing of the overdraft debt interest rate down to 8.5%.
Despite these actions by government, Minister of Finance, Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris, said that “all of us are going to have to do our part”.
“The more people expect [federally], the larger the government will become and therefore the larger the burden becomes on the government,” he added.
~~Adz:Left~~ As for the private sector’s role in helping to reduce national debt, the minister said it would be necessary for business owners to meet their obligations to the government, such as Social Security, and continue to bring development to the Federation. The latter proposal, he said, “will translate into additional revenue in the coffers of the government”.
Additionally, the minister said the general public must realize their role in the national economy by staying on top of debts owed to the government.
“There has to be a realization that the government revenues in large measure come from taxes, and that is why entities in the private sector and general public must satisfy their due and legal obligations as determined by the Island Revenue Service and selected agencies of the government.”
Whatever the path may be to reducing national debt, it remains clear that St. Kitts-Nevis will have to take prompt action if it is to avoid the reduction of food subsidies and business concessions as other Caribbean nations have resorted to in recent times.
