SVG has no capacity for borrowing says PM Friday

THE GOVERNMENT of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) can no longer borrow and invest. “…there is no room for it…”, Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday told persons attending a town hall meeting in NewYork last Sunday September 20,2026, while stressing that there is no capacity for borrowing.

“…there will be some borrowing to maintain the functions of government and for some necessary functions when the terms are very, very good, and there are some of those that are available, and we will make use of them, but in terms of productive investments, investing in large projects and so forth, we are entering an era where we are going to rely more on private investment,” the Prime Minister told the gathering. He stressed that government is encouraging members of the diaspora to invest in SVG while describing the overseas based Vincentians as “preferred investors” who the government is asking to take advantage of the opportunity to help SVG generate the level of economic growth that is required to bring the country out of the difficult situation it is in.

“…we cannot, as government, borrow and invest. There is no space. There is no room for it. We do not have the capacity…we need your input. We are going to engage in private/public partnerships in a way that accelerates investment in the country and generates economic growth that brings a better standard of living more jobs, more investment opportunities, more services- all of those things to our economy,” the prime minister stated.

“We are revising and looking for ways in which we can make our business climate in St Vincent and the Grenadines more attractive both to you, our preferred investors, to the people living at home, and to foreign direct investors who seek opportunity…”.

Dr. Friday told the gathering that recently in parliament, the government started alleviating “some of the burdens on companies that exist in the country, so they can get along with the business of creating jobs and investing and becoming more competitive”.

The prime minister pointed out that there is no single investment that is going to transform the country.

“It’s going to take hundreds of initiatives, some small, some little larger, and a few people to be able to make a difference,” he noted, while adding that when government comes to the diaspora, it is not expecting people to say, ‘I can mobilize 150 million dollars to do something’, but if they have ideas and links, by all means tell me.”

He said also that people in the diaspora have things that they can invest in for their benefit and for the benefit of SVG.

During the town hall meeting, Friday also mentioned violent crimes in SVG, stressing that incidents have created fear in the communities and the government is tackling that situation with initiatives that will bring concrete results.

He also said that the education system needs to be fixed to make it more responsive to the needs of the country by offering more options to people to find employment, not only in SVG, but in the OECS and CARICOM when they graduate, noting that at times contractors have to go overseas to find certain skill sets.