Esquivel: I.M.F. says Belize in dire straights
While the Opposition leader had to be careful not to come down too heavily on the security forces he once commanded, there were no such constraints on former Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel. No stranger to governmental economics, the man who spent the two terms as Minister of Finance told the press that an I.M.F. report is the kind of advice you ignore at your peril.
Manuel Esquivel, Former Prime Minister
“To say that the I.M.F. is trying to impose the will of some super national conspiracy on the people of Belize is of course ridiculous. Like a doctor, the I.M.F. can only tell you “we have examined the patient, we have listened to what he said are his symptoms, we have made our own examination, and we have concluded that the patient is ill and certain steps need to be taken to restore his health.” That is what a doctor does and that is all that the I.M.F. is doing at this point. It is not forcing anything on anyone, it is not trying to pick a quarrel with the government or to be disrespectful of the government. It is merely saying, and these are professionals, not politicians in Washington or London or anywhere else. These are professionals, who come from all parts of the globe by the way, that conduct these inquires and examinations, and they have determined that there is a very serious problem. And that is no news to us because we all heard this last year when they were here in 1999. Last year in June, you will recall there was another I.M.F. report that was made saying, “this patient is ill and something needs to be done.” The response of our government unfortunately is “you might say I’m ill, I feel fine and I don’t see why I have to listen to you, just because you happen to be the doctor.”
Even though the government, according to the report, has agreed that certain things need to be done, and done urgently, they have absolutely disagreed that they will stop their commercial borrowing. They have absolutely disagreed that they will stop milking the D.F.C. to death, so that for the first time in five years the D.F.C. is now making a loss. It made one million dollars loss last year. It finds itself with non-performing loans to the tune of sixty-one million dollars out of all its portfolio. This represents thirty percent of all loans they have made, are not being repaid as compared to commercial banks, which have an average record of six percent default.”
The UDP quoted from the I.M.F. staff report, which cited high recurrent deficits, excessive government borrowing and over-reliance on a poorly performing Development Finance Corporation. That long awaited report will be tabled by the government at Friday’s meeting of the House of Representatives.
