| Greene wants to know details of $260 million loan guarantee | | Print | |
| Thursday, 24 February 2011 12:37 | |||
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Progressive National Party Leader Clayton Greene is demanding that the governor provide details on how up to $260 million in government borrowing will be used to stabilize the economy and pay off the country’s debt. His Excellency the Gov. Gordon Wetherell announced Feb. 3 that the U.K. Department for International Development will provide a loan guarantee of up to $260 million for the Turks and Caicos Islands government to borrow for up to five years. He said the details of the plan were still being finalised but that loans “would provide the time we need to rebuild financial stability and balance the budget.” The loan guarantee comes with the requirement that the government stop operating at a deficit by March 2013. While the interim government has been cutting costs, right sizing public service employment which consumes more than half the government’s current revenue, and considering new sources of revenue, Greene said he and his party believe monetary stimulus is the only way to stabilize the economy. “The introduction of austerity measures which we have witnessed, while questionable in and of themselves, will have a cold day in hell’s chance of reaping positive results in the absence of increasing demand in the private sector,” Greene said in a 14-minute video posted Feb. 19 on his website, www.claytongreene4leader.com. Greene reiterated his call for the U.K. to bear all the costs of the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) that is probing corruption allegations against former PNP government officials and others. He pointed out that both Commission of Inquiry Commissioner Sir Robin Auld — who called for the investigation — and Special Prosecutor Helen Garlick support his view, but the cost is being born by the interim government. The PNP leader said the public should be told which of the country’s debts would be paid with loans, suspecting the beneficiaries would be previous U.K. loans, the cost of the SIPT and salaries of “numerous advisors.” “Let the people know now what the true cost of this borrowing will be,” he said. Greene said much of the money should be spent on encouraging inward investment, health care, education, infrastructure and creating jobs.
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