Minister Boatswain

Finance Minister, Anthony Boatswain says that the recent low rating given to Grenada by Standard and Poor's is wrong, saying that the agency downgraded the rating on a wrong premise.

The international credit rating agency has lowered Grenada's rating from B plus to triple C plus. Boatswain said, "the main reason why they have downgraded Grenada from B minus to triple C plus as they indicated is due to arrears on domestic commercial debts in the banks.

ŒThis is not true", said the to figure in the Ministry of Finance. The senior government minister stated that there are no arrears at domestic commercial banks and they have written to Standard and Poor's indicating that this is not correct and that they should reverse the rating.

The latest report from Standard and Poor's published last week noted that the government should improve its financial position and show a track record of timely debt payments. This, according to the report, would bring the credit rating back up.

But Minister Boatswain said the resources pledged to Grenada by the international community after hurricanes Ivan and Emily were not all deposited. He said that only 50 percent of the pledges were made and that this brought pressure on government's limited fiscal resources.

"If we had received all the pledges that were made at the different conferences, the fiscal situation would not be as it is", he remarked.
Boatswain said the government had to revert to its internal resources and mobilise domestic resources from whatever means in order to meet the demand for the rebuilding of the country.

The lowering of Grenada's credit rating by Standard and Poor's has come at a bad time for the Keith Mitchell-led New National Party (NNP) government in St. George's. The administration is due to call fresh general elections within the next 18 months.