Bridgetown.
The Government of Barbados is satisfied that it took the right decision to withdraw a $500 bond issue earlier this month this was disclosed by Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler in a Ministerial Statement read in Parliament last night.
"The Government is actively considering alternative finance funding scenaros and the proceeds of the bond, once it is eventually issued will be added to the foreign reserves, which are expected to remain adequate even in the absence of any bond issue, as a result of a an adequate fiscal correction," Sinckler said.
The Minister said the Government accepted its intenational bond advisors' view that Barbados could launch the bond successfully and at an acceptable interest rate.
"We accepted the view and proceeded to conduct a bond issue road show from from September 25 to 30 across London, New York, Boston and Los Angeles where the key investors of Barbados' bond are normally found. Those meetings went generally well, with most investors responding positively to Barbdos story, expressing support for the adjustment programme wish was outlined in the 2013 Budget hoping for its full implementation", the Minister added.
According to Snckler, the United States Government shut down on September 30, as its Congress failed to pass a spending bill to finance federal government operations and together with growing apprehension about the possibility of a United States debt behind a failure of Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling limits, have led to uncertainty in the international markets, making it clear that the cost of the bond issue would be unacceptably high. .
