The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has long proffered the idea that Barbados’ public servants’ pension benefits were way too generous.In fact, many of us can remember back in the early 1990s when we were also in the IMF’s hands. The Washington-based multilateral institution had a reputation as a hard task master, insisting that borrowers who could not meet their targets were led to devalue their currency, slash the number of public officers employed, and rip away many of the benefits enjoyed by those who remained.We saw the damage that being under the IMF’s thumb can cause. Then Prime Minister Sir Lloyd Sandiford sent home hundreds of civil servants, cut salaries by eight per cent, enforced an island-wide public-private sector wage freeze and gutted severance payment benefits when new legislation was introduced.Yes. It was a terrible time for Barbadians. Thousands took to the streets in mass demonstrations. Sir Lloyd remained firm, articulating that the alternative of devaluation of the Barbados dollar was a far worse nightmare that would continue long after the IMF programme ended.
