2014-06-18 Barbados Today

Source: http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2014/06/18/inniss-denies-foreign-exchange-restriction/

Inniss denies foreign exchange restriction

Minister of of Trade Donville Inniss has rubbished Opposition claims of a restriction by the Central Bank of Barbados on the amount of foreign exchange allowed to leave the country. The allegation was made by Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley during debate in the House of Assembly today on a bill to raise Government’s loan limit.

In his contribution, Inniss accused Mottley of making reckless and unpatriotic statements, which he warned could further jeopardize the Barbados economy.

“ . . . These statements can cause a lot of damage to this society, particularly when it is proven that they are comments that are not entirely true, comments to the extent that businesspeople in this society are experiencing immense difficulty at accessing funds from the Central Bank of Barbados,” Inniss told the House this evening.

He suggested that the Opposition Barbados Labour Party was merely trying to score cheap political points and putting politics above country.

“When a statement like that is made, particularly if it went unchallenged, one will get the impression that this economy is collapsing and there is a need for a serious run on the foreign exchange in this country,” he added.

But Opposition Member of Parliament Edmund Hinkson, an attorney, was adamant that such a measure was currently in place and had affected some of his overseas clients.

“I know that from a professional point of view that clients of mine who live outside of Barbados who have recently sold their land in Barbados have not been allowed to take more than the equivalent of BDS$100,000 of the sale price out of the country. The sale price might have been BDS$500,000 and the Central Bank had only given them permission to repatriate $100,000 out of the country . . . ,” Hinkson contended.

Author: ehinksonadmin

Edmund "Eddie" Hinkson is an attorney-at-law residing in Waterhall Terrace, St. James. The husband of Beverly and father of Erica and Gregory, he has an outstanding record as a community leader. He has been a member of the Lions Club of Bridgetown for the past 24 years and has the honours of being named the Best President of the Lions Clubs in the Caribbean District 60B and of serving as the Lions Clubs Leader of Barbados. Eddie has been a member of the Advisory Board of Directors of the Salvation Army for the past 5 years. He has also served as a member of the Council of St. Johns Ambulance Association, the Association of the Blind and Deaf and of the Council for the Disabled. Eddie has been a sub-committee chairman of the Small Business Association and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A member of the Lawn Tennis Association and the Paragon Tennis Club, he has sponsored cricket, football and netball tournaments, provided prizes at school speech days, assisted churches with outreach and mentorship programmes, provided food vouchers to needy persons and helped in finding solutions to constituency issues relating to land. In government, he served as Chairman of the National Conservation Commission and the Severance Payments Tribunal, Deputy Chairman of the National Housing Corporation, the National Advisory Committee on Disabilities and the Building Advisory Committee as well as a Director of the National Cultural Foundation, a Member of Consumer Claims Tribunal, Income Tax Appeal Board and the Harrison College Board of Management. Internationally, Edmund is an officer of the International Bar Association, a member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and a member of International Who’s Who of Professionals.

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