Speaking at press conference at Government Headquarters, in Basseterre, on Monday 12th December, Mr Alfred Shipke, head of the IMF Delegation to St Kitts & Nevis, said they have been here on the twin island for two weeks now and during that period there has been a high level of cooperation, which he described as outstanding, with respect to the government here and also the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.”
The IMF official indicated that from his point of view, as he also stated back in June this year, when the austerity program was announced, that it has really been a true partnership.
He explained that “The government set itself a number of targets, the first which was at the end of September and based on our joint assessments, the government has met all the given requirements and conditions including the overall fiscal deficit target.
Shipke also stated “This is quite remarkable, considering the global environment has continued to be challenging and of course they are spin overs into the local economy as well, but the revenue performance has been fully in line with our projections and the same thing is for our expenditure.”
“It also demonstrates that the revenue measures that the government put in place a year ago are yielding significant results. There is no time for complacency and the government will be working hard to ensure that the December targets will be met,” Mr. Shipke continued.
Mr Shipke concluded by saying that “From here we will present our findings to the IMF Board and will have a meeting in late January.”