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The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) is raising the alarm following the release of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest Article IV Consultation Report, which reveals that Dominica’s public debt remains critically high at approximately 100% of GDP—a level that endangers the country’s financial stability, future development, and national independence.
The DFP finds it deeply troubling that, amid headlines proclaiming a “positive outlook,” the IMF is in fact warning of a high risk of debt distress, and has recommended urgent fiscal consolidation to avoid a future economic crisis.
“Public debt, although declining from its pandemic peak, remains elevated at 100% of GDP,” the IMF report states.
“More ambitious fiscal consolidation is needed.”
A Dangerous Fiscal Trajectory
A debt-to-GDP ratio of 100% means that Dominica owes as much as it produces in a year. This is not sustainable. The Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) benchmark for safe debt levels is 60%—meaning Dominica is well above the red line.
This debt burden was initially driven by the pandemic and natural disasters, but now persists due to excessive borrowing, a narrow tax base, and overdependence on volatile Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) revenues.
If unaddressed, this could lead to:
• Skyrocketing interest payments that crowd out health, education, and social programs;
• Limited capacity to respond to economic or climate-related shocks;
PEOPLE BEFORE POWER*PEOPLE BEFORE POLITICS*PEOPLE BEFORE PRIVILEDGE AND THINGS
• Dependency on risky short-term financing or foreign bailouts;
• A potential future of austerity and economic stagnation.
A Call for Good Governance and National Unity
The Dominica Freedom Party calls on the Government of Dominica to:
1. Be transparent about the country’s true fiscal position.
2. Broaden and stabilize revenue sources, moving beyond dependency on CBI.
3. Rationalize government spending, with a focus on long-term sustainability.
4. Engage the Opposition and civil society in crafting a national recovery and debt reduction plan.
The Dominica Freedom Party urges all Dominicans to reflect on the path ahead—and to demand leadership that confronts reality, not hides from it.
Let us not sleepwalk into economic collapse. Let us act now.
I have said numerous times that the Roosevelt-led regime instead of creating opportunities for citizens to create generational wealth for their families, this government is burdening citizens yet unborn with generational debt. That’s the objective truth that cannot be refuted.
This present administration has to prioritize servicing the ballooning national debt. Consequently, the citizens are short changed by the government. Instead of funding much needed social programs, road repairs, adequate supply of medicine at the health facilities, increase in pay for government workers, the money goes to the creditors of this reckless, spendthrift regime.
No member of the present Cabinet has any formal training in finance nor economics. Therefore, the blind leading the blind. The country needs someone with the requisite financial prowess. We all know who that is.