The Surinamese economy Has recovered its stability, the last evaluation of the program of the International Monetary Fund for Suriname was stated. That mainly happened thanks to the program of the Washington institution.
It is of course commendable what the government has achieved in recent years, but it is certainly not a reason to hang back lazy now. Because these are only the entire cautious first steps that have been taken.
“Three years ago we were still extinguishing the fire. Now the fire is under control, but we must remain vigilant ”
IMF director Andre Roncaglia
A lot of work still needs to be done before the economy and financial household of the country is really healthy. In particular, the broom will have to be tackled by the logger government apparatus and the corruption will have to be tackled. Or that something is finally done about it so that there will also be good governance in Suriname.
In between the lines you could hear from IMF representatives that they have a hard head in that those reforms are actually being implemented. This was also apparent from the very carefully chosen words by Andre Roncaglia, executive director of the IMF.
“Three years ago we were still extinguishing the fire. Now the fire is under control, but we have to remain vigilant, “he said last week. He also knows that elections are coming in Suriname and politicians like to throw money in campaign time, to see afterwards how the debts made should be repaid.
Moreover, the question is whether the country is really out of the crisis or whether the IMF program has only improved the macro-economic picture. Witness the many problems that are still there, there is still little or no improvement for the average citizen in his or her circumstances.
The EBS, SWM and guest rates still go up every month, while prices in the stores also rise regularly. The implementation of the social program, on the other hand, still leaves a lot to be desired, so that many people still have trouble getting out every month. So for a significant part of society there is still a crisis situation.
Roncaglia did not say that the suffering for the Surinamese is completely over. This is in contrast to Minister Stanley Raghoebarsing of Finance & Planning, which, like other members of government, has often called that Suriname is out of the crisis.
According to the IMF representative, this is only the beginning and the reforms used must be continued. Roncaglia called on the population to continue to put pressure on the government and parliament in that regard.
And there is an important bottleneck for Suriname. Because the government and the parliament are absolutely not put under pressure by the population. Moreover, they are mainly preparing for the elections, real rule is of a later care. As a result, there is a good chance that the critical words of Roncaglia have been spent on Dovemans ears and the crisis will continue to be found.
