KINGSTON, Jamaica – REGIONAL leaders have increased the priority for relieving debt-burdened CARICOM Member States, and have announced their intention of tabling this issue at next month’s meeting with directors of international financial institutions (IFIs).
Earlier this year, when a number of Caribbean economies began to feel the crippling effect of the ongoing financial crisis, CARICOM set up a Prime Ministerial Task Force to craft appropriate responses to the impact on the region.
The most-recent meeting of this task force, held in Jamaica yesterday (Aug. 5), brought together Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo, Prime Ministers David Thompson, Patrick Manning, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and host Bruce Golding to discuss the best regional response to offset the negative effects of the crisis.
The meeting had two focal areas: the mobilisation of resources internationally and the identification of specific areas where the Caribbean can move forward in a coordinated manner.
Emanating from the meeting, President Jagdeo pleaded to IFIs to lend support to the region, noting that “there is an urgent need for financing in many CARICOM states to avoid a catastrophic situation”.
“Clearly the region doesn't have the financial resources to fill the gaps...so this leaves many of our member states very little option but to seek multilateral assistance, if they do not, the situation will get seriously worse,” he stated in a press release issued by the office of the President.
The task force agreed that a group of Heads of Government will meet with the Heads of the multilateral financial institutions to “argue the case of middle-income countries”.
Jagdeo explained that the group of prime ministers is not seeking a write off a specific amount of debt, but rather for financial institutions to allow vulnerable middle-class countries to be eligible for multilateral debt relief.
The report states that the task force has identified the gaps existing in each Member State, and outlined a number of solutions applicable to those members. President Jagdeo cautioned, however, that countries will have to seek multilateral assistance to avoid exacerbating their economic situations.
It is anticipated by the task force that the multilateral meetings can begin as early as September. The issue is additionally scheduled to be tabled at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in October.
