Nevis premier warns of job losses under debt restructuring exercise

Premier Joseph Parry has warned that there will be job losses as the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) carries out a debt restructuring exercise and a reorganisation of government departments and statutory bodies.

Parry, who is also Minister of Finance, said the reorganisation would lead to workers being laid off, but said a pension scheme would be put in place to act as a safety net for non-establishment workers with more than 10 years service.

"The debt restructuring is something that we have taken ourselves in this country," Joseph said during his weekly radio programme In Touch with the Premier".

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the path which we wish to take, and we have the White Oak people who are helping us to restructure the debt. Basically part of the idea is that we would have to discipline ourselves and organise ourselves, and take certain measures locally to cut down costs, to pull back on expenditure and also to stimulate growth, he said.

CMC