LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION DICUSSES A NUMBER OF ISSUES

October 05, 2006

Opposition Leader Dean Barrow was the guest on Love FM’s Morning Show today. Barrow addressed a number of issues. Yesterday the UDP introduced its three senators designate, Diego Bol of Toledo, Deborah Mencias McMillian of San Ignacio and Esther Ayuso Ramirez of Belize City.

Hon. Dean Barrow: Leader of the Opposition

“People very carefully selected and people of who were extremely proud causes each of them are extremely well qualified. We are happy that two women and included. But we are even happier because of the fact that their talent and their qualifications are so obvious. We want to make clear that is there is a pool of talent available to us for assistance when we become the government that it is not just limited to the standard bearers and I think we have succeeded handsomely in terms of those three individuals that has been chosen and now will move forward as the new UDP Senators.” 

Barrow was also asked the call by the Public Service Union that Director of Immigration Jose Carmen Zetina must be removed from his post.

Hon. Dean Barrow: Leader of the Opposition

“This thing is happening repeatedly and it cannot be right for the head if the department to say well there is only one key and I don’t have any so its someone else fault or well you see the department is riddle with malcontents and they are trying under mind me. No, even if it’s not your fault, if you can’t manage the department properly then you need to go.” 

Barrow also spoke on Belize’s economy. 

Hon. Dean Barrow: Leader of the Opposition

“The Private Sector continues to be strong. The difficulty is of course with the Public Sector and we hear Government’s figures and we hear Government saying well the deficit is becoming more manageable. But even granting that this problem with the debt is an immensely complicated feature and I don’t know that the public is being kept sufficiently briefed we have to read things in the foreign press or hear things on the foreign radio stations. The latest being this report that the fact and it is not being denied by the by the Government, and I have spoken with one of the International Brokerage houses in New York and it has been confirmed that this has happened. There was a payment due and Government did not make the payment this was in respect to bonds that had been insurance wrapped and in fact there had bee a fund set aside in the event of default by the Government in the event they couldn’t make payment under this particular instrument them the insurance that they had taken out and the sort of fund that had been set aside would be resorted to, and that has happened. But what the expert told me was that constitute a default you have not been able to pay the money yourself so recourse has had to be had to the facility that was out in place to cover the creditors in the event you do default so with respect to that there has been a default from the time they announced the restructuring we know that Standard and Pores said that they viewed this announcement as constituting what they describe as having a selective default. The experts are saying now there has been a real default certainly in respect to one component of the debt because they have not paid. He did say that it might well be that the default is a strategic one that perhaps the Government could have made the payment but they did this because that immediately sent a signal to the markets and our bonds started trading much lower. So they are able now when they confront the creditors across the table to say well  the bonds are only trading at sixty cents on the dollar in any event so in terms of what we are offering you, you better be happy to take fifty so it well can be strategic. But the point is that in so far as the markets, analysts and the rating agencies are concern it is another blow to confidence and I am not sure where we are in terms of flight from the capital and nobody is telling us what the statistics are and so the practical shock effect on the economy has not been properly calculated but it must be happening to a greater or to a lesser degree and it must have started to happen from the time we announced that we would not be able to service the debt and we would have to go for this restructuring.” 

Opposition Leader Dean Barrow.

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