To standing room only former Prime Minister Owen Arthur delivered a speech to an appreciative audience at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination last evening. Since demitting office Arthur has said very little regarding the current state of the economy and related matters. Thanks to the economic society at UWI, Cave Hill which is comprised of campus students, Barbadians got to hear Arthur’s views on the most topical issue of the day; the economy.
For nearly two hours former Prime Minister Arthur systematically attacked the government’s policies. He labelled the economic strategy of the government as one prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and suggested there is no precedent in world history for austerity measures leading to prosperity. He was very uncharitable towards Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance by suggesting the government has resorted to managing the economy based on indices and ratios.
Of concern to Arthur was what he discerned to be a lack of government policies which are transformational. He reminded the audience that under WTO rules several incentives currently used to attract business to Barbados will be dismantled. Also the double taxation treaty with Canada which has seen the exclusivity it gave to Barbados becoming the country with the third largest concentration of Canadian assets will become fair game when the economic partnership agreement with Canada in the pipeline is rolled out. Lastly the 50% exports which Barbados currently enjoys with the region will come under threat in 2015 when under the economic partnership rules the common external tariffs currently in position will have to be removed.
As a way forward he identified the need to leverage the uniqueness of the Bajan Brand to lead Barbados from the economic morasses it now finds itself. He called for proud Barbadians to rise up and show the entrepreneurial drive which is required to build a home grown solution to our problem. He disagreed with the suggestion of a wage freeze and instead called for an incomes policy which is designed to reward effort. Of interest was his support to continue our tertiary level education and to resist cuts, a contrast to the call from Professor Avinash Persaud’s recent call to cut tertiary spending. He was highly critical of the government’s guarantee of the Four Season’s debt which he said adds negatively to Barbados’ debt profile.
Arthur after a two and a half year lay-off delivered his speech with confidence, during the Q&As he was at his most ruthless when responding to a question from Nation journalist Wade Gibbons. It was interesting to observe the lukewarm interplay between Arthur and Mottley when the night’s event was concluded. If one is to judge from the standing ovations by the BLPites in attendance, it is obvious Arthur still commands support within the party.
BU has received Arthur’s speech with the compliments of Sylvan Greenidge.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.