The economy of St Vincent and the Grenadines is likely to get worse before it can get better.

This is the opinion of Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace, who made this pronouncement yesterday as he commented on the inclusion of St Vincent and the Grenadines on a list of countries said to be in a debt crisis.{{more}}

Eustace, speaking on the New Times radio programme, referred to a list created by the Jubilee Debt Campaign, which named 22 countries around the world, which it claims are “already in a debt crisis.”

“We are now being linked as part of a group of countries by the international community who see us as deep in a debt trap and that our economy therefore is likely to get worse before it gets any better,” he said.

“They are named with the country called Greece, who all of you know over the past weeks has undergone major problems. And now we are linked in that group of the worst 22 in the world in terms of debt and that is where Ralph Gonsalves has brought this country of ours.”

The Opposition Leader opined that improving this country’s debt situation will be a mammoth task, once all the things needed to turn the economy around are taken into consideration. Eustace added that the New Democratic Party has the human resources and skills necessary to make this turn around and stressed the party’s determination to replace the current government of St Vincent and the Grenadines in the upcoming elections.

According to the Jubilee Debt Campaign, the 22 countries on the list are countries with significant net debt (more than 30 per cent of GDP) and high current government external debt payments (more than 15 per cent of government revenue).

Other countries listed to be “already in a debt crisis” are: Armenia, Belize, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, The Gambia, Greece, Grenada, Ireland, Jamaica, Lebanon, Macedonia, Marshall Islands, Montenegro, Portugal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Ukraine.

An article posted on businessinsider.com states that one of the lessons from the 2008 economic downturn is that hefty debt levels can leave countries vulnerable to sudden shifts in market mood and so the Jubilee analysis has listed many more countries across the globe to be lying in a debt danger zone where an economic downturn or jump in interest rates on world debt markets could lead to disaster.