Boatswain criticism of the IMF comes as the Jamaica government is awaiting a decision from the IMF as to whether it would agree to provide a US$1.25 billion loan to the country.

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Former finance minister Anthony Boatswain Wednesday warned Grenada and other developing countries that they should not always accept the policies and recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The IMF is not always right, they have been proven wrong on many occasions and we have been taking the IMF medicine for too long,” Boatswain said as he made his contribution to the 2010 budget debate in the Senate.

He said it is time that his successor, Nizam Burke, and others in the Tillman Thomas administration that the IMF measures do not always work.

Last year, Grenada was among a number of Caribbean countries to have received financial assistance from the Washington-based financial institution to help cope with the effects the global economic and financial crisis.

“No Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility will work! The IMF medicine cannot work for Grenada! The IMF medicine cannot cure us now,” Boatswain said, calling on the government to develop “home grown” solutions to deal with the economic crisis facing Grenada.

In September 1999, the IMF established the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) to assist its poorest member countries including those in the Caribbean.

The PRGF-supported programmes are prepared by governments with the active participation of civil society and other development partners.

Boatswain told the Senate that the EC$679 million (US$251 million) budget is an IMF style document that will not stimulate the economy.

“It will result in Grenada creating an army of indigents,” said the former finance minister, who negotiated the PRGF for Grenada in 2006.

“It’s does not cater for sustainable development and growth that will have positive impact on the economy in terms of people getting jobs and changing their lives, it speaks only to the policy and not the reality,” he said.

Earlier this month, the IMF defended its policies with regards to the Caribbean, saying it has stepped up its lending and is reforming its credit lines under a new and broader mandate from the G-20 countries.

“We have been busy making sure that the Caribbean, as well as all our member countries, benefit from these efforts as we continue to provide advice and lending,” Caroline Atkinson, the director at the IMF’s External Relations Department said in response to a recent criticism by the Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Edwin Carrington.

Atkinson said that the Washington-based financial institution would like “to offer a different perspective with regards to the IMF involvement in the Caribbean region” noting that all 14 CARICOM countries that are members of the IMF have “benefited from the allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) approved last August.

“In total, CARICOM countries received about US$1.5 billion, representing an increase of over 10 per cent in their combined net international reserves, an important boost in liquidity for the Caribbean,” she said in a statement sent to the CMC.

Boatswain criticism of the IMF comes as the Jamaica government is awaiting a decision from the IMF as to whether it would agree to provide a US$1.25 billion loan to the country.