Above: Antigua (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Following the successful completion of its Stand-By Arrangement with the International Monetary Fund, Antigua has no plans to reengage with the IMF, according to Finance Minister Harold Lovell.

Antigua will maintain a relationship with the fund, he said, under a post-programme monitoring framework.

The country officially completed the programme last week, paving the way for a final $25.4 million disbursement.

While the IMF said the country’s economic recovery was “picking up,” it warned of “significant challenges” remaining.

“I’ve said it before in another forum but it is worth repeating: Antigua and Barbuda is at the dawn of a new era,” Lovell said. “We weathered the worst of the storm presented by the global economic and financial crises, as well as homegrown realities like the collapses of BAICO/CLICO and R. Allen Stanford. We did this with the grace of a mature nation, not the grief of mendicants expecting the outside world to solve our problems.”

Antigua’s economy is projected to grow by 1.7 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.