St. George Grenada – 21st September, 2012: Former Minister for Finance, Sen. the Hon. Anthony Boatswain says he has been reliably informed that the NDC Government intends to borrow an additional 70 Million Dollars from the National Insurance Scheme; a move he says that can cripple the NIS and put beneficiaries at great risk.
According to Boatswain since the last general elections in 2008 the NNP has been warning the Tillman Thomas Administration about its reckless spending and the implications. However Boatswain said the Government paid no hid continuing to increase the monthly payroll with huge payments to non productive sympathizers of the party and first class travelling all over the world. He added, “While they spent recklessly no effort was made to grow the economy, and today we reap the result. He said Government is now looking to borrow from every possible source to pay salaries and meet basic recurrent expenditures.
He said the latest move by the Government to selfishly borrow another huge sum from the NIS to keep a minority Government in power is putting the NIS at great risk will literally killing the institution.
According to Boatswain, excessive borrowing from the NIS can pose a major risk for pensioners and beneficiaries in the future. It can negatively affect the ability of the NIS to sustain itself and meet its commitments in the near future if its reserve is depleted.
He said the long term solution to this crisis must be government’s ability is to grow the economy to ensure fiscal sustainability. However in the short term the Government should urgently convene a special sitting of the Parliament to discuss this financial crisis and to jointly agree on a solution.
As a result the former Minister is calling on the NIS and all lending institution to ensure that any request from the Government has the necessary Parliamentary approval as required by law. He said failure to do is putting the lending institution at risk since no future Government will be obligated to repay any loan taken without the necessary legal backing.