Commissioner Marlin welcomes global coordination as agreed by World Finance Ministers at G-7/IMF Meeting
Commissioner of Finance Roy Marlin, says government continues to monitor global developments related to the financial crisis, and he added that he is confident that we will overcome this major challenge.
"These are tough times for the world economy. I welcome the global coordination of a plan of action that is the outcome of a G-7 and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting held over the weekend in Washington DC.
"We have seen during the past two weeks that the initiatives by various countries around the world have not worked in building investor and consumer confidence. During that period we saw stock markets continue to slide downwards.
"I also conquer with Banker Jan Beaujon that there is no reason to panic with respect to what is going on in the US, Europe and Asia as it does not have a direct impact on our banking system, but that consideration has to be given by the community with respect to belt tightening in the coming months.
"With an increase in food and energy prices, residents and businesses already had to tighten their belts and re-budget expenditures. With the current financial crisis, there could be an indirect impact on our economy, but we must remain cautious and carefully monitor the next six-months.
"The current global financial crisis has been on-going for the past couple of weeks and the full extent of the impact for the upcoming six-months is still unknown and therefore we are cautiously optimistic," Commissioner of Finance Roy Marlin told the Government Information Service (GIS) on Sunday.
The plan of action is seen as the first concrete step in coordinated global action by emerging markets, low-income countries, and the advanced economies to combat the crisis.
The proposal included a temporary government guarantee of liabilities, government action to take out troubled assets and force the recognition of losses, government provision of capital to the financial system, and a high degree of international cooperation.
The IMF is also ready to lend money quickly through its emergency financing mechanism to any member country in financial difficulty. The IMF has more than US$200 billion of loan-funds and can draw on additional resources through two standing borrowing arrangements.
The IMF and the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) will take the lead role in drawing up the necessary policy lessons from the current crisis and recommending effective actions to restore confidence and stability in the global financial markets.