Prime Minister Dean Barrow has been juggling enough balls on a number of national issues. Most recently, the dilemma has been keeping the unions at bay while trying to re-structure the five hundred and forty-four million U.S. dollar superbond. Going into the meeting with union leaders last Friday, all eyes were on the leader of the nation because he made it clear that any salary adjustment to teachers and public officers would send absolutely the wrong message to bondholders at a time when they needed to be assured of the nation’s economic distress. But perhaps due more to timing than any particular dexterity, the Prime Minister keeps on juggling, with additional pressure from an I.M.F. Team that is in town.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“The IMF is here and of course the first thing they questioned officials about yesterday is what does this mean in terms of sustainability going forward. I believe we were able to answer their questions. We have not yet heard from CDB, which is far more important than IMF—the IMF isn’t giving us anything. CDB has promised to assist with our policy based loans to help us bridge the financing gap that will still remain. Because though, the proposal confirms the position that the raise cannot materialize unless we have the money to pay for it, I don’t think it will affect us going forward. We hope to conclude the restructuring process; at least in so far as the official launch is concerned by next Thursday. What may have been in jeopardy I suggest is financing from the IFIs—from people like the IDB and the World Bank and so on—but I believe that since it is quite clear that we are not going to tax people; we are not going to try to find money, pluck money out of thin air; the IFIs will be able to live with the formula that we have agreed so far with the teachers.”
With the salary adjustment issue just days from being pushed onto the 2014 list of things which may or may not happen, one of the biggest rocks blocking the road to successfully negotiating the superbond has been taken out of play.
