KINGSTOWN, ST. Vincent, Jun 10, CMC – St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday has called for a fundamental overhaul of the global development finance system, saying that a “one size fits all” model based on income levels is “unconscionable” and is “failing” small island developing states (SIDS).
Addressing the “From Recovery to Transformation and Resilience” Development Partners Roundtable here on Tuesday, Prime Minister Friday urged the United Nations and international financial institutions to “aggressively champion” the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) as the operational standard for access to concessional financing.
“St. Vincent and the Grenadines echoes the unified position of CARICOM and the alliance of small island states that a one-size-fits-all approach to international development assistance will only continue to fail the region,” Friday told the event.
He said it is “unconscionable” that Caribbean small states, which contribute less than one per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions, must borrow at double-digit commercial interest rates to rebuild after climate-fuelled disasters, while developed countries pay far lower costs.
“Access to affordable lending cannot be dictated by arbitrary income metrics that ignore our acute exposure to climate devastation and geographic isolation,” Friday said, noting that climate projections for the Caribbean point to more frequent and more intense weather events.
“So action is not an option. The timing is what’s required, and that timing is now,” Friday said, describing as “extraordinary” the series of shocks that have hit the island in recent years.
He made reference to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 La Soufriere volcanic eruptions, Hurricane Beryl in 2024, and the inflationary impacts of global conflicts.
“As the saying goes, it would seem that we can’t catch a break, but you are here now, so maybe our fortunes will change, and the immediate future will disperse the disasters of the recent past.”
Friday said the combined impact of natural disasters and external crises has been “profound”, forcing the government to expand public investment to protect lives and rebuild — with serious consequences for public debt.
“In seeking to protect the welfare and rebuild what we lost, government has had to expand public investment,” Friday said.
“This has worsened the public debt, and coupled with ineffective debt management, has driven the debt to over 113 percent of GDP, and worse is threatened if we do not change course and pay particular attention to debt management.”
Friday said that that while SIDS are widely recognised as vulnerable, his government does not intend to “be defined or limited” by that reality.
“Our response cannot simply be a matter of surviving from one fiscal year to the next. It must be about structurally altering our economic foundations.”
Friday linked the demand for fairer financing to a domestic agenda of structural reform, outlining three key areas his government wants to advance.
He described the country’s dependence on imported diesel as a major drag on households and competitiveness, saying that the government intends to replace ageing generators with solar power and battery storage and remains “fiercely committed” to the national energy strategy target of 60 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
“We remain fiercely committed to our national energy strategy, which targets a 60% renewable energy share by 2030. I know it’s ambitious, but you gotta think big.”
Friday said that rapid construction and infrastructure projects are highlighting a skills gap between local workers and the demands of the economy.
“While large-scale construction activity remains a primary driver of our recovery, our local workforce, particularly our young women and young men, frequently face systemic employment gaps.”
Referring to projects such as the port modernisation and the new Arnos Vale Hospital, he said there is “huge demand for technical skills” but a “huge proportion” of certified tradespeople are imported.
“We are actively reorganising vocational training and technical education to align human capital directly with private sector needs, the needs of our economy overall,” he said.
Friday said his government is working with technical partners to modernise and reactivate an updated fiscal responsibility framework to guide medium-term debt reduction.
“Through comprehensive public expenditure reviews, enhanced tax compliance and automated social protection delivery, we are ensuring that every dollar spent is transparent and effective.
“Our intention is to put the fiscal responsibility framework on a statutory footing,” he added.
In the discussion that followed, Prime Minister Friday linked his financing reform push to a wider Caribbean debate about whether the region is truly progressing or simply coping.
He cited recent remarks by the Bahamas Prime Minister, Philip Davis, at the Caribbean Development Bank’s annual meeting, and an analogy attributed to Michael Mann about “walking up the down escalator”.
He said the Caribbean has seen “so many projects” that are completed without clearly transforming conditions on the ground.
“Very often … that question lingers because it’s a kind of, ‘Wait, let’s see what happens.’”
CMC/kb/ir/2026