St. Kitts and Nevis’ Debt to GDP ratio to drop below the 100 percent mark

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. Denzil Douglas (photo by Erasmus Williams)

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, SEPTEMBER 12TH 2012 (CUOPM) – The Federation’s Debt to GDP, which at one time was nearly 200 percent, is expected to dip below the 100 percent mark.

This was disclosed by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas during Monday’s Cabinet meeting attended by the Financial Secretary Mrs. Janet Harris and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Mrs. Hilary Hazel.

The senior civil servants updated Cabinet on the progress made to date on the debt restructuring programme of the government.

The Financial Secretary indicated that the government had achieved quite a number of significant goals with respect to its debt restructuring and fiscal adjustment programme.

Significantly, it was highlighted that subsequent to the re-basing of the GDP statistics, the debt to GDP ratio for St. Kitts and Nevis stood at 156 percent which was further reduced to about 131 percent after debt restructuring.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance signalled that the debt to GDP ratio should dip below the 100% mark as his ministry continues to astutely manage the fiscal affairs of the country.

“Cabinet colleagues commended the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister and the Ministries of Finance and Sustainable Development on the herculean effort that has been exerted to bring great relief to the country’s fiscal position at such an economically challenging time,” said Minister of Information, Sen. the Hon. Nigel Carty in the Post-Cabinet Briefing on Wednesday.