Debt Advocacy Team for CARICOM

A CARICOM Debt Advocacy Team is to be appointed to lobby for debt relief and/or debt amelioration on behalf of highly indebted CARICOM Member States.

This was one of the results of the Thirty-Fifth Conference of the CARICOM Heads of Government which concluded in Antigua and Barbuda today, a CARICOM release said.

At a press conference this afternoon, Chair of the Conference of Heads of Government, Gaston Browne, recently elected Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said that the Team will advocate with Development Partners on behalf of Member States. The initiative stemmed from the recognition that the current onerous debt was not realistic for some Member States, given structural and other economic weaknesses, Browne said.

A regional debt management mechanism is to be designed and a regional fiscal sustainability framework is to be created within six months, Browne said, according to the press release.

Another strategy proposed by the Commission on the Economy and approved by the Heads of Government is resource mobilization, particularly from non-traditional sources of financing.

The release said that in their continued focus on revitalizing the regional economy, the Heads of Government met on Wednesday with leading figures of the private sector.

At the closing press conference, Browne also announced Montserrat’s intention to accede to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas by the next meeting of the Conference. This will pave the way for the Member State’s full participation in the Community, the release said.