…as well as I.M.F. invitation

And while the PM’s views on the INTELCO fiasco may be in the minority, his explanation of the impending visit by the I.M.F. seemed somewhat more plausible.

Said Musa

?They are coming because I invited them. And they are not coming to prescribe medicine for Belize. They are not coming to give us the usual I.M.F. recipe for fiscal, structural adjustment, wage freeze, usual things, retrenchment, tax increases. No. The objective of this I.M.F. mission is first of all, it is outside of the Article IV consultation. It is assisting us. We are a member of the I.M.F.; Belize, as indeed we are a world member of the World Bank, the I.D.B. and so on. We invited all of them including the C.D.B. to come down and look at what we are doing; look at what we call the home grown fiscal stabilization and debt project that we are doing to manage our debt and also to bring down the fiscal deficit. We want them to do it. The question may be asked why; why involve these people? Because this is the way the world works. The truth of the matter is unless you have some kind of imprimatur from the I.M.F.; at least an understanding of what you’re doing. None of the rating agencies, none of the international financial institutions, will pay any attention to Belize and we need to have that restoration of full confidence in Belize. That’s the truth of the matter; the simple truth. It’s not to get an I.M.F. programme in Belize because we believe we can do it ourselves.?