PM defends incurring public debt
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts- DURING the inaugural airing of the weekly talk show ‘Ask the Prime Minister’ on ZIZ Radio, the St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas stated that he would “incur debt to improve the quality of life of [the people of the Federation]”.
Over the course of the live radio show callers were encouraged to phone in and either pose questions to the Prime Minister or offer suggestions as to how to handle issues facing the nation.
One such caller inquired of Douglas why his Labour Party had not reported a single year of overall surplus for the country during their thirteen years of governance.
“I think the performance of the Labour administration under my watch has been given good marks by those who continue to monitor the economic situation in St. Kitts-Nevis. We aim, of course, for a balanced budget.
We try to ensure that there is enough surplus… to generate the necessary financing for a number of capital projects,” the PM said before indicating his reasons for adding to the national debt over the years.
“Realistically, we are talking about the development of people, the development of a country, and I would not want at any time to have a surplus of money in the treasury when the people are suffering.” ~~Adz:Right~~
He went on to say that social development programs such as providing tertiary education to students near or below the poverty line, medical supplies to the hospitals on both islands and adequate housing for all would remain a priority for his government in spite of the current economic climate.
“If I have to spend what would have been intended to be a surplus to ensure that the human resource that is going to take this country to the next level is to be adequately prepared, I will spend that money.
“If I have to incur debt to improve the quality of life of our people, I will incur debt because at the end of the day a government is only as good as the service it gives to the people,” Douglas said of the 2 billion EC dollar National Debt.
‘Ask the Prime Minister’ was moderated by the Chief Executive Officer of the Labour Party, Wanda Connor.
Persons were allowed one hour to call in or email their questions to the Prime Minister, although shortly after the show ended the People’s Action Movement (PAM) leader, Lindsay Grant, criticized the show for excessive ‘filtering’ of the questions by the show’s moderator.
