Dr. Carla Barnett came into government in November of 2004, swept in as part of the fiscal reform movement forced unto government by the G-7. And while Dr. Barnett did much to clean up the operations and more importantly the international image of government's financial regime, it seems now that the stress and scandal of the Universal guarantee imbroglio may have proved too much.
7NEWS has confirmed that the Financial Secretary today gave the Prime Minister notice that she is leaving the job, officially in a week's time, but our reports say that it is with immediate effect.
While Barnett could not be reached for comment, the speed and the timing of her departure lead to the conclusion, supported by information from senior sources, that Dr. Barnett felt her professional credibility could not be maintained with the current string of revelations.
As we reported on Friday, international investment houses such as Bear Stearns and JP Morgan are now raising serious concerns about what they call skeletons in the closet of the Musa administration. Viewers will recall that at his press conference on Thursday, the Prime Minister said he didn't tell the Financial Secretary about the Universal guarantee because he, "didn't think it was necessary."
The Fin. Sec's departure is considered major because she led the hugely successful Superbond effort internationally and its high subscription rate of 95% was largely based on her reputation and continued commitment.
Moreover, her presence is considered key to the delivery of the US$25 million policy based loan from the Caribbean Development Bank. That loan hasn't been disbursed yet, but government has penciled in half of it to meet its financing requirements for this year's budget. Dr. Barnett's input is also considered critical for continued IDB support.
Overall, it has to be considered a massive credibility blow for the Musa administration both domestically and internationally, especially as Superbond subscribers are looking to her for answers about the non-disclosures.
We should note that there had been reports up to Friday that Barnett would be leaving at the end of August, but it seems that the succession of revelations of government guarantees, all of them not disclosed in the debt restructuring, inclined her to dramatically speed up her date of departure.
