The IMF came during the week ended March 14, 2003. One would have thought that politician and charlatan, union, media and talk-show talker, ngo, private sector and people in all their rich and enlightened variety - would neither wait nor require an invitation. One would have expected us to seek out the IMF delegation, give those bureaucrats - technocrats a serious talking to, put them firmly in their place, and ensure that they leave Dominica, carrying in their ancient portmanteaus, our very own recommendations for viable resolution of the economic woes of our country.

    To the contrary, I heard in such a way as to believe that those who were invited to meet the IMF chose not to go. So with fear and trembling - and you know how I am "fass and out of place" - I addressed an envelope to the government's Director of Finance. I implored him to communicate my views to the IMF.

    Those opinions are not new. I have held them for years, albeit there must have been adjustments as time and attitudes change and situations of conflict develop. I have from time to time shared those positions with the public at large. I will not reproduce them here.

    On the evening of March 13, 2003, Mr. Sheridan Gregoire hosted a useful programme on Q95, his guest being IMF spokesman Mr. Guzman. Unavoidably I began listening late. But when I tuned in, I heard a couple of questions from callers that sounded not just irrelevant but even anti-country. With my usual propensity for "fass and out of placeness" I deliberately determined to shift the discussion to a different dimension.

    Almost verbatim this is what I asked Mr. Guzman:

    "Is the IMF delegation aware that it may be imposing conditions based on faulty statistics? For example, it is being said that taxpayers owe some $40 million in back -taxes to government. If you ask the Inland Revenue Division how much of that is self-created, they will answer that 60% of that is self-created.

    Let me give an example of self-created. Assume a taxpayer does not file a tax return for some time … say for two or three years. The Division is empowered to make an assessment based on best judgement. In fact, that best judgement is often very inflated. It becomes further fictional and unrealistic when interest and penalties are added.

    It follows that a high percentage of the $40 million debt may not exist and may not be collectable. But once the $40 m figure is written into the IMF report, it assumes a status of DIVINE TRUTH. IMF expects it will be collected even if most of it cannot be collected."

    Mr. Guzman admitted that there was validity to what I was saying.

    By invitation of the host I remained on the line for almost half an hour. That was time sufficient to voice a number of other matters/issues relevant to our situation:

1. BBC recently reported that an Asian country was paying back some US$17 billion to the IMF. The loan would be paid by June 2003 ahead of schedule! In our puny position we cannot even successfully begin to negotiate to borrow a few million.
   The IMF policy of one-size -fits-all is therefore not appropriate. Dominica is a micro-state. The evidence suggests that it is very non-viable. It is time that solutions be addressed within the perspective of Caribbean integration.
   Just imagine every city or district every where with population of 70,000, having to sustain government structures, finance schools, hospitals, prisons, courts, police and perhaps navy, army and air force, overseas missions, etc. … The great majority of them would be as non-viable as Dominica is today.
2. I asked the IMF delegate whether he was surprised to learn that Dominica had failed to satisfy the conditions mandated a year ago by the IMF in order to receive continuing assistance from the international community. Mr. Guzman said he was not altogether surprised. I retorted that perhaps it were all a self-fulfilling prophecy.
3. Even while we speak the country that controls the IMF is planning to drop 3000 bombs in 48 hours on Iraq without regard to cost in blood and treasure. All this barbaric waste can be avoided. A modicum of its vast monetary cost could be diverted to research to find a model for assisting micro states in their sustainable development while we pursue the attainment of more viable political and economic entities.
4. Institutions like the IMF/World Bank have existed long enough … . By now they should be able to point at some micro - state and boast, "Here is a model of success. This is so thanks to our policies, and to the assistance we once provided." They cannot say this after all these years.
5. Above all, I reminded Mr. Guzman of the social "safety net" which is very much part of IMF vocabulary these days. If it remains only concept and is not reduced to tangibles, we have a recipe for chaos. I suggested that the safety net should come prior to, or at least concomitant with the austerity measures; not subsequent.