 Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker I want to join my colleague in congratulating both the member from Miku North in his new ministry but also want to congratulate I don't know if it's congratulate his yet or commiserate with the member from view for itself as a new deputy speaker Mr. Speaker, I become increasingly concerned when we come to the house and the house is either misled because there is a misunderstanding on the other side or deliberately misled Mr. Speaker and I certainly hope that it's not the latter because I think that it would be a sad state of affairs if we've gotten to in this country where a government in office believes that they can come to the house and mislead the house with impunity and when I heard the member from Cass Street East the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister of Finance's presentation this morning I'm concerned Mr. Speaker that it's the latter because we have a press statement that came out from the World Bank as far back as January January 11th to be exact Mr. Speaker 2024 announcing that the World Bank's board had approved this policy-based loan for the government of Solution and Mr. Speaker, it says the COVID-19 pandemic had significant impacts on Solution's economy leading to a rise in public debt and poverty in 2020 public debt had reached 94% of the country's gross domestic product up from 62% in 2019 despite recent efforts to implement careful financial policies and strengthen public administration Solution still faces fiscal challenges and it goes on to say Mr. Speaker like many small island states Solution is also at risk of climate impacts including a gradual change in rising sea levels and coastal erosion as well as sudden events like hurricane floods and landslides these events can be especially harmful to tourism and agriculture significantly impacting its economy and finances the country also faces obstacles to private sector growth including limited access to credit regulatory bottlenecks insufficient public infrastructure and high electricity costs now Mr. Speaker I come to the most important part because it seems that I can't speak for him but the member from Cass Trees East after giving such an elaborate detail an accurate one may I add Mr. Speaker of the conditions that were put in place for the CDB loan where it became now obvious to all of us that the fact is that the government had actually agreed to implementing the 2.5% tax or levy not for security and health Mr. Speaker as promoted but in fact it was to raise monies to support the loan that they got and I see the member is now going in the opposite direction and seems to want to hold back on the real conditions so the press statement says Mr. Speaker to help St. Lucia tackle these challenges the project will have two main pillars the first pillar supports St. Lucia's reforms towards fiscal sustainability increasing revenue and transparency and managing resources more efficiently this includes assistance of the implementation of a new fiscal policies announced by the government such as the introduction of a health and citizens security level levy and raising taxes on cigarettes here we go again so some of the same conditions Mr. Speaker that we heard from the CDB loan actually are also applicable to this loan which the member from Cassarise East voided in saying it went on Mr. Speaker so we now know that one of the conditions to this loan Mr. Speaker was the implementation of the levy and also other fiscal reforms Mr. Speaker of which the member from Cassarise East has yet to hallucinate us on has left it again for us to this becoming the common word now with this government Mr. Speaker speculation when they leave it to speculation and when they leave it to speculation then they turn around Mr. Speaker and want to accuse people of misinformation if you don't want the misinformation to be out there in the first place do not leave things to speculation especially with your track record it goes on Mr. Speaker and it says second pillar will support efforts climate change and mitigation and adaptation by helping the government implement the national energy policy climate change bill which aims to speed up the shift in economy with lower carbon emissions by promoting use of renewable energy Mr. Speaker where does it speak about tourism enhancement and the other things the member spoke of so is it that the minister did not know because we've heard that before we've heard the minister make many annunciations of things that he did not know and we would have assumed that he would have known given his track record in government but this continual breach in the trust of the people of this country Mr. Speaker and this continual abuse of this parliament from members on the other side who have access to the information and ought to be providing us with an accurate account of what is transpiring continues to run afoul Mr. Speaker we just had it what the member said to introduce this bill and the assumptions behind the bill are far cry from what this press statement said so I'm continue shocked Mr. Speaker Member for Miku South you keep making reference to a CDB press release or World Bank but this is we are discussing a loan from the International Development Association so member so I'm trying to make the connection between the World Bank statement and the motion we are debating so I've given you some latitude but you need to bring it back to the motion Mr. Speaker you've been giving me latitude I greatly appreciate it but the fact is they're one and the same the loan that we're here today is a World Bank loan so draw down on our SDR rights this is the same this is the press statement that came out Mr. Speaker I'm sorry I don't have it in hard copy but I'll be happy to make it a copy of the house right that came out just before the announcement so Mr. Speaker it's one and the same there's nothing to be confused about this is the World Bank loan but member you began by speaking to the Castries East MP misleading the house in his opening statement but you have not spoken to that misleading aspect of but well Mr. Speaker I very grateful if in fact I did not make myself clear and so give me the latitude to reiterate my position the member from Castries East I have about two pillars of this loan Mr. Speaker and neither of those pillars are the pillars that are referenced in this document this press statement so in fact it would have appeared and that's why I brought the CDB loan that the same conditions that existed for the CDB loan are in fact the same conditions that existed for the World Bank loan now how would I even be able to pick that up there was a former Minister of Finance and when we negotiated with CDB and we negotiated with the World Bank and we negotiated with the IMF they all speak so the fact is that this loan is a continuation of the policy based loan from CDB and is the same policy based loan from the World Bank and what I'm speaking of is that the member stood there Mr. Speaker this morning and misled this house in believing that the pillars and this loan was going to be used for some tourism project where it makes no reference to that Mr. Speaker in fact it speaks to the same conditions that existed for the CDB loan I'm glad that members on the opposite side think it's a laughing matter because it seems to be a recurrent decimal that this government believes that they have the authority to say and do whatever they want to do and we don't want to appreciate that at the end of the day and you can run and hide but you cannot deny that that is a fact this is a sacred house Mr. Speaker this is the ultimate house of which we must all respect and come to this house and speak the truth it cannot be just allegations of not speaking truth and here it is Mr. Speaker that we sat here this morning and we heard the member from Casteries East deliberately I have to assume deliberately Mr. Speaker I cannot imagine that a person in his position could have gotten it so wrong how can it be that the World Bank in a press statement on January 11th clearly articulated what the conditions to the loans are and that is not the same thing that the member spoke of and then the members did exactly what he normally does Mr. Speaker and that's how I find myself running afoul he never wants to speak to the details of anything and is always telling you either next meeting or one of his ministers are going to tell you so here it is now that we're being told Mr. Speaker we're being told Mr. Speaker okay that we have a budget process coming through and this is money that's going to be spent next year and we're going to hear details about it you are coming to the house to seek the Parliament's approval to expend the money you are expected to provide those details not for the opposition to provide those details it is for the opposition to hold the government accountable and to ask those tough questions and I'm hoping that in his response Mr. Speaker that the member from Caster East will clarify now Mr. Speaker on another matter finally Mr. Speaker finally something that has become habit in Saint Lucia that we obtain an article 4 report I don't know why this article 4 report was delayed and only just came out but I'm grateful that it has come out because again it speaks to some misconceptions that the member from Caster East spoke of Mr. Speaker member from Caster East said that the debt don't mind that we've borrowed over 700 million all he didn't use I'm using the number 700 million in the last year and a half that the debt to GDP is under control 70% or less 70% or less that's what the number said Mr. Speaker here it is though in the article 4 report it says paragraph 3 Mr. Speaker very happy to make this Mr. Speaker there are several article 4 consultations I'm not to show which specific one that the member is referring to specifically now which year referring to 2023 it just came out normally it would come out as you know earlier in the year excuse me no you see and again I'm so happy that the member from Ansley Canaries brought up these because these are important things for the public to really know and appreciate an article 4 statement is an audit that is done by the IMF on an annual basis Mr. Speaker and the government can decide whether they want the IMF to publish the report or not yes but I want to say Mr. Speaker that when a government does not allow the article 4 report to be published it actually generates substantially more questions and suspicion among people so this article 4 report was late in coming out Mr. Speaker but anyway I'm happy it's March 7th it came out March 7th and it says the member from Microsoft to proceed with his contribution uninterrupted Mr. Speaker whilst we take your advice in good state Mr. Speaker sometimes you listen and you know when you permit members you give members the latitude for the leader of the opposition to stand in the Congress chamber and to assert that government can prevent the IMF from publishing a report it's not only erroneous you know and by arising a point of order when that's a point of order he's misleading not only the house the population of this country how can you say that government can stop IMF from publishing a report when IMF has its own websites and you can go there and print whatever you want ridiculous coming from an ex-prime minister you have made your point the adjectives are not necessary I know they are not but sometimes you really have to pound them if the head is hard Mr. Speaker not in this house and for the record the only person who gives the latitude is the presiding officer I don't give attitudes Mr. Speaker latitude the presiding officer not other members member from Microsoft has been taken to your statement that a government can in fact prevent the IMF from printing an Article 4 report would you get a comment on that before you proceed Mr. Speaker I'm very aware of the minister's inexperience in governance and certainly that he's absolutely wrong in fact it is absolutely correct Mr. Speaker that the IMF Article 4 report is always published at the consent of the state if the state disagrees with the report Mr. Speaker the state can ask the IMF not to publish the report Mr. Speaker so let me proceed Mr. Speaker this is published on March 7th Mr. Speaker it says on current policies public debt is projected to stabilize around 75% of GDP in the medium term significantly above the regional ceiling of 60% of GDP of 2035 bank credit to the private sector is projected to remain anemic in the absence of improved loan loss provision fiscal adjustment and additional legislative reform natural disasters are a recurrent threat risk to outlook and title to the downward and includes global economic slowdown so Mr. Speaker here is a dilemma that all countries face Mr. Speaker the fundamentals of economic management of a state they're fundamentally three things a minister of finance among others but three primary things that the minister of finance must be focused on one Mr. Speaker is that his economic growth rate remains higher than the growth rate of debt okay so when your debt rises faster than what your growth rate is ultimately that is going to lead you now to a problem meaning you're going to get to a problem where you're actually going to be having more debt than you have revenue okay the second thing is and it's not a new phenomena but it's current in the context of today Mr. Speaker and that's inflation so when your economic growth rate is below your debt growth and below your inflationary rate these indicate that you are heading in the wrong track and if you allow those things to persist we're going to find ourselves in a position where the only thing that the government can depend upon is getting policy based loans in order to be able to resolve this so Mr. Speaker it is very clear to me by layman terms that this government has now made it a habit to borrow every time we come to the house it's a new set of borrowing we've seen that they have in less than one year borrowed more money that we had to borrow for the pandemic and there's no pandemic in fact this government boast about and I want to use the word very carefully Mr. Speaker very carefully the recovery because as we speak now Mr. Speaker there really has been no growth what we've had is a recovery when your GDP contracted by 24% you only have one way to go that's up you all have not gotten back not from a tourism perspective not from an economic perspective back to where we were in 2019 and in fact when you take into consideration inflation Mr. Speaker we're slightly less so we have not even fully recovered you can't even begin to talk about growth yet and it's obvious Mr. Speaker by listening to the members on the opposite side and looking at the policies that are coming out and the level of borrowing we're in trouble Mr. Speaker so when you take HIA airport Mr. Speaker who is going to pay for the cost over us St. Jude's who is going to pay for the cost over us Millennium Highway and West Coast Road who is going to pay for those cost over us Rodney Bay Road the member of housing and his complete utter irresponsible act as it pertains to the shock and tavern housing developments who is going to pay for those inefficiencies when we give away land in St. Lucia under the market price Mr. Speaker when we give away $400 million of revenue and we get very little in return where is the investment that's going to take place Mr. Speaker to improve the capacity instead we see the this government apparently intent on simply generating easy money the easy money Mr. Speaker is the tax people taking money from people's pockets members on the opposite side Mr. Speaker want to boast they've collected already $10 million and they're going to collect $44 million where does that money come from Mr. Speaker that money comes from people's pockets that's less money for people to spend and now what you're saying to those people is that you have to trust the government that they're going to spend that money more efficiently than you and we can't even see where the money is going this is the same government that said you can't eat roads that said that foreign direct investment must demonize don't want white people in our country and today now they have to now take a reverse track because they've now recognized that those words are coming back to haunt them and the same things that they criticize the former government on in wanting to grow the economy and to balancing our accounts meaning we wanted to make sure the economy was always growing faster than death we want to make sure now that we control inflation it is a disaster Mr. Speaker it's a calamity Mr. Speaker when a government would have not addressed the inflationary problems in this country and would have deliberately adopted policies to allow bus fares and now I hear persons wanting to make a comparison like a comparison between bear and water want to increase the price of water they want to increase the price of water in this environment that we're in right now Mr. Speaker after bus fares have gone up electricity has gone up bread has gone up food prices throughout this country have gone up and the government now is taking even more money away from the people by taxing them so Mr. Speaker the member from castries east presentation the member from castries east presentation Mr. Speaker okay brings more questions and I'm concerned Mr. Speaker of this continual habit of misleading this house and where a government is to provide actual information that there seems to be a deliberate attempt to suppress that information we are here to approve this bill and I do not believe Mr. Speaker that the member from castries east in his presentation has provided this house with all of the information and to the conditions of this load that are necessary to get the support of the opposition and I dare say that hopefully the public who is listening to this who have already seen that the government breach their trust by telling them to make sacrifices for the tax on health and safety to find out that that money was never intended for that use that money was intended to get support for both the CDB loan and the World Bank loan and that is what is taking place in this country and I'm even more concerned and I'm saying I'm looking forward to the estimates and the appropriations bill to see the numbers because we've been left in the dark Mr. Speaker I see that even the IMF Mr. Speaker even the IMF on the report showed unemployment blank even they have concerns must have concerns with the formula that the government is using because they've left it blank the IMF and that's as of March 7th so don't try to make it out to believe that the opposition is playing politics asking the questions and providing the information and I think that we are deserving of the accurate answer of what's taking place and not the IMF the unemployment numbers see that's the typical thing Mr. Speaker ask the IMF really? they're here representing the people of San Lucia you are accountable to the people of San Lucia Mr. Speaker not about the IMF not calling people names is simply asking that the information that's provided to this house is accurate and that to give the public of this country the satisfaction Mr. Speaker that the affairs of this government of the people of the country are being run fairly justly and that we can trust the information that we're obtaining and I would say to you Mr. Speaker there is time for this government to correct their ways and to make sure that when they come to this house that they bring accurate information and if it is uncomfortable it is to explain to the people why you have to make those decisions you're not accounting to me Mr. Speaker that's not I only represent the thousands of people in opposition and my office continues to offer a platform to all of those people Mr. Speaker who have concerns and therefore I am bringing their voices and I'm saying to this government we all have to make difficult decisions don't be scared of them come out and tell the people the truth but when you come to this house Mr. Speaker with half truth or in fact sometimes no truth at all it starts causing people to reconsider the trust that they've put into this government and will destroy the democracy that we have Mr. Speaker so Mr. Speaker I'm concerned that the member did not articulate the conditions to this lord I am concerned that the member has not articulated how this money is going to be spent is there a deficit that we don't know about as to why you now have to borrow money for budgetary support all the indications up until last week Mr. Speaker all the indications were unemployment was down at its lowest level economic growth was booming it was doing well so why would you have to go and borrow $100 million on budgetary support I don't understand and there are another bill that we are going to pass today in which we can ask even greater questions but my concern Mr. Speaker is the amount of borrowing $200 million from the Saudis $100 million from CDB another $100 million from World Bank we are now going to go and guarantee another $80 million we have several other loans over $750 million in borrowing Mr. Speaker how can this government say that things are going well they are acting like if they are drunken sailors Mr. Speaker on a spending spree so they are doing one thing Mr. Speaker and their actions and their words are saying something entirely different and I'm asking the member from Cass Riziz please when he comes to this house accurate information because today he did not do that and I'm sure there are a lot more people who are disappointed in that thank you