OECS head says countries need help to clear debt

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Director General Len Ishmael says heavily indebted Caribbean states need help from the international community to ease the debt burden weighing them down. 

Dr. Ishmael says the region's debt GDP ratio had been on its way down, at 85%, before the recent global financial crisis. 

She says there are factors fuelling increased debt in the OECS countries.

The OECS official said that with foreign exchange not coming in, along with much less available foreign development assistance, the sub-region was finding it hard to pay its own way. 

Dr. Ishmael explained that the sub region was using borrowing to keep economies afloat.

[Story courtesy the BBC Caribbean Service]