Samoa’s debt situation

Dear Editor,

Thank you Mr. Mata’afa Keni Lesa for reiterating the concern about Samoa’s debt to equity ratio status.

The financial implication that is casting over Samoa due to it’s debt is worrisome.

You can see the writing on the wall what the govt. is doing through policies like “fast tracking” changes in Samoa to correlate with it’s aggressive economic expansion, for instance, the creation of a new post like the President of the Judges to regulate judges that were supposed to be independent in their ruling.

Never heard of such a post in a democratic society before. Is the govt. trying to rush the cases that are bending to speed up the process of land issues for it’s purpose of setting the stage for the Torrens System to be in effect?

Are they “digging” in by setting up a more bureaucratic system to maximize its control of Samoa?

All I can see through the “thick of thin things” the govt. is doing for the purpose of “lining up its ducts” just to meet the credits it needs to secure these loans through leasing of customary land to outside investors is the only reason for initiating these changes.

Are they meeting these credit criteria yet since the I.M.F hasn’t updated the latest GDP numbers?

I have read the latest reports that the govt. is trying to live within their means with their latest budget, meaning they’ve been squeezed by the GDP reading so far.

If they have increased in their borrowing still, I wouldn’t be surprised if Samoa’s debt is 75% of GDP which means that the govt. is paying 75% of its inland revenue (taxes) to finance its debt liabilities while only 25% is left to pay for the govt. operations.

Tourism hasn’t yield any benefit so far yet only time will tell.

As the world is experiencing negative growth and deleveraging, Samoa is not immune to these economic shocks. If we can print our own Tala like what the Americans are doing, then the sky is the limit for us to continue borrowing. Hopefully they are solvent enough to sustain a sovereign govt because the alternative is not good.

Leituala RB



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