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The People do not vote for him , Where is the DBLP leader?
Reblogged this on CARIBBEAN VIBE – Whats News.
Looks like the rating agencies, most non-Central Bank economists and the IMF were all wrong in their pronouncements on our economy. There was nothing for us to be worried about. The Ministry of Finance and the Government’s proactive financial strategies have been working and have resulted in commendable statistical outturns. Wonder what the fuss on the economy is all about.
With the background of those in power you will get exactly what you deserve. With the background and past performance and given how many of your countrymen and women have taken bribes and payoffs from every Tom Dick and Harry who wants to set up shadow industries on your island….well I guess that you will find “BUSINESS AS USUAL!!!!!”
Canada druga being led by Tom Haughton is a prime example of just how corrupt your government officials are……bribes and payoffs allowed these murders roam free and to set up their businesses without any fear of prosecution…..hell Tom Haughton walked away from the authorities and escaped justice after important paperwork ???accidentally??? disappeared. In the meantime numerous officials mysteriously had inflated bank accounts…..
Now you state that the banks projects an economic growth rate??????? Who is pumping monies into who’s account now???????
Happy days are here again
It is painful and embarrassing but the Governor of the Central Bank has absolutely no credibility.
No mention of the deficit of $597MM (table 4) which is an INCREASE of $148M from 2012 and the CBB advances to the Govt $490MM (table 5) read printing of money.
Quite a selective presentation by the GOCB.
From April last year up to now several people in this country have been beset by escalating bad news on what appeared to be a stalling economy.
Such news of a plummeting economy came out of sources such as; the Minister’s Budget and mini budget statements; the GoCB’s convening of the “doom and gloom” Public-Private Sector consultation last year; The reports on the unrealised targets the GoCB had set for bringing the fiscal deficit back on track; the acknowledged failure of the MTFS; the Government’s taking on board the necessity for urgent action in drastically reining back the salaries and wages outflows of the Public Service and related institutions; the article 4 consultation of the IMF; the reports of the rating agencies, Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and others which downgraded Barbados based on our economic performance; and other reports.
This 4th quarter Report by the GoCB does not appear to reflect any recognition that there might have been any economic difficulties encountered by Barbados over the last year and seems to be describing the economy of a different Barbados than the one painted in the reports above.
Something seems wrong. I know that we need to project a positive image in situations such as this but why no apparent explicit mention of the data that informed the reaction to economic difficulties that have been highlighted in the media over the past several months that would at least suggest that the report is balanced?
Grateful if some of the UWI economists and the BES ones who visit BU on occasion would critique this report and my misunderstandings of what such a report should encapsulate and explain why a report like this one should appear to accentuate only the positive aspects of the economy and make no explicit textual mention of the difficulties the economy might have faced during the year.
I am probably missing some fundamental aspect of economic reporting here and I’d be very grateful for some help in understanding the upbeat tone and tabular presentations of this report and correcting my layman impressions.
Statement at the Conclusion of the IMF Article IV Consultation Mission to Barbados
Press Release No.13/506
December 13, 2013
A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Barbados during December 3-13 to conduct discussions for the 2013 Article IV consultation. The team met with Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler; Minister of Tourism and International Transport Richard Sealy; Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development Donville Inniss, Central Bank Governor DeLisle Worrell, members of the Legislature and representatives from the private sector, labor unions, and academia
I was just verifying that the governor was indeed present during the article iv consultation in December 2013. His name is in the IMF record as shown above, an indication that he was in the room. And now this. Again I am confused as always. I am always confused when this gentleman speaks.
He projected negative growth in 2013 and positive growth in 2015.
Seems reasonable to me.
correction negative growth in 2014
Hants; His projections on growth in 2014 and 2015 seemed reasonable to me also. They are after all just projections and will be changed at the appropriate time. Some might call them wishful thinking. But what about the body of the report? Does it sound as if he is describing the economy of the Barbados that many on BU have been seeing as deteriorating over the last year?
What fcuk is negative growth, akin to come back forward?
Stupid is as stupid does. Fcukery. Pure and simple.
Welcome to the circus.
does anyone else find it scary that he is dressed just like marshall applewhite…… of heavens gate cult just before the hale bopp comet came ….doh
@ Back in Time Jack | January 14, 2014 at 10:07 PM |
“What fcuk is negative growth, akin to come back forward?”
It’s called “bullshitery” of the highest order. Now you know why the garden gnome man is classified at the mill as an intellectual quack and political prostitute or even a professional jackass for rent.
What is so wrong with the simple word “decline” or even the more euphemistic phrase “negative performance”?
miller a patch of good news for our beloved Barbados do you agree or disagree? This news will make Adrian Loveridge vex as ass not only is a certain island he worships missing and out of the running but Barbados is in the top 6.
The top ten best Caribbean islands, according to USA Today 10Best.com readers, are:
Puerto Rico
Curacao
Dominica
St Martin/Sint Maarten
Grenada
Barbados
Bonaire
St John (USVI)
Tobago
Anguilla
DeLisle, the IMF is listening. We are an intelligent community. This presentation lacks image and credibility
It appears the Central Bank wants to add to its knowledge pool:
Internationally Renowned Economist Chooses Barbados For His Sabbatical. Noted international economist, Dr. C. Fred Bergsten, will spend a six- week sabbatical in Barbados as a guest of the Central Bank, commencing mid – January. Dr. Bergsten is a Senior Fellow and Director Emeritus of the Washington – based Peterson Institute , the only major research institution in the United States devoted to international economic issues, and described as “the most influential think tank on the planet”.
The Governor releases his review and the intellectuals should be critiquing the delivery/ Instead most of the time we have uninformed comment which adds to the confusion and uncertainty.
The Governor stated that foreign direct investment dropped in 2013. Did he say the reason? Was it all because of a depressed global economy? How do we compare to other countries?
David;
Sorry to have shared in the uninformed comment and thereby “adding to the confusion and uncertainty”.
But shouldn’t your call really be to the economists out there to give us the benefit of their training, and in some cases wisdom, by helping us to understand the report and the contextual frame in which it is designed?
To me the report appears to have been designed to tell only one side of the story. Is that how it should be? If my critique of the report is flawed and that is the accepted way such reports are written then it would be appreciated if the professionals would say so and we could look to the next reports to continue a tradition of being very pretty documents that tells us what the Government thinks is suitable for general consumption. Nothing more.
But I am probably, as usual, tilting at windmills with little knowledge of the conceptual underpinnings and agreed standards in this area.
@Are-we-there-yet
BU’s comment is general. Of course we need to leverage the power of our education build acquired over the years. If not what is the purpose of it all.
Tourism is down because the traditional sources of tourists, UK, USA and Canada do not have robust economies and have been experiencing slow growth and high unemployment.
The Financial services industry is suffering from the Canadian government’s attacks on “tax havens and low tax jurisdictions”.
Barbados is suffering because the economy is not diversified enough and even during the Arthur years of “progress?” the economy was limited to Tourism,Financial services and construction of roads a prison and villas and hotels.
Barbados needs to develop new industries to create a diverse economy instead of waiting for a world economic boom.
Hants,
states ‘tourism is down’ and gives his reasons, yet our neighbours are recording their highest ever long stay visitor arrivals.
The lowest FDI for decades is the most important indicator that the slide will continue. There is no confidence in this gov’t and, for the risk-takers who spend despite that fact, no facilitation. Recovery will not start until this gov’t is gone; just the possibility that things will get better will encourage the private sector to spend carefully and an actual manager in charge of our economy will get the ball rolling again.
David;
Let me put my concerns another way. To me the report puts out an over the top optimistic viewpoint on the trajectory of the economy at this time as supported by optimistic projections and carefully crafted charts. A much more muted yet optimistic presentation might have been more persuasive.
Is that what an official report on our economy should be like? Can its figures and optimistic text survive a rigorous drilling down of investors (potential and current) and of other savvy users or might they subliminally suggest a possible attempt to mamaguy that might be counterproductive to the report’s intent?
If it can’t, then perhaps a report that textually states the undeniably challenging features of our economy (even if tangentially) and shows that the Government is dealing with them and are on the desired trajectory in their policies so far, would appear to be more sensible.
I am have full confidence in my Prime Minister who is doing the best job that he can to help steer the ship of state in the right direction. My Prime Minister speaks when he has something to say and not because he has to say something. My Prime Minister does not micro-manage so that he allows his Ministers to function and perform the roles that they are supposed to perform and for which they are being paid .
I am satisfied that my Prime Minister, his Ministers and Parliamentary group are fully committed to making Barbados a better place to live notwithstanding the world economic situation. I share in the vision and mission of the Prime Minister , his Ministers and Parliamentary group. I am satisfied that Barbados can benefit from wise and prudent management and that the Prime Minister will become a great Prime Minister, one who kept the ship of state afloat during turbulent storms and unpredictable economic weather. Respect due to my Prime Minister.
I am satisfied that my Minister of Finance is doing the best job that he can at this time and that he is doing everything possible to restructure the economy and to keep Barbados on a sound footing where the only place for Barbados to go is Up and On. He says that he is doing the things that need to be done to right size the economy , I believe him and give him my full support in this regard. Respect to my Minister of Finance
All of the Ministers are doing the best they can as Barbadians for the good of Barbados and I give them my full support and I place full confidence in their abilities to succeed.
I pledge my undivided support to the Government of Barbados.
I give my full support to the elected and selected officials of Barbados who are the ones chosen to run the affairs of the country. They are Barbadians who are educated and competent, have the best wishes for Barbados, would like to see Barbados succeed and all of us as one big happy family enjoying the best that we can from our efforts.
@Are-we-there-yet
What is clear is that the government is trying to build awareness about the need to be confident and positive. It will take more to breath confidence into the Barbados economy.
David; I understand. Enough, no more!
The central bank governor spouted this exact same nonsense mere months ago and it was vigorously disputed…….what is wrong with this guy, they had absolutely no control of 2013, cannot understand 2014 but somehow can project to 2015 and actually have a 2.2 billion reserve in 2016, this is taking projections just a bit too far.
David
Dr. C. Fred Bergsten is an IMF official sent here to oversea the GOB structural adjustments program and adherence to the IMF conditionality’s set by them.
This sabbatical thing is bullshit similar to the bullshit about print new money. There was and is no need for new money……..just that the government needed to finance its debt so they needed more money.
GOCB is a clown.
Here is the big picture. The Barbados money supply keep increasing cause more of it being printed…read “advances by the CBB to the GOB” way up while at the same time US$ have to be borrowed to pay for things with a condition that IMF be called in because nobody outside the country want to be paid in Barbados dollars.
No mention at all that the Barbados dollar has had a dramatic increase in value against many of our source markets of tourism making our tourism product more expensive than other destinations.
Our currency is on a collision course with reality.
@ Hants | January 15, 2014 at 7:20 AM |
“Barbados needs to develop new industries to create a diverse economy instead of waiting for a world economic boom.”
Are you including the Cane Industry Revitalization project in your call to this DLP administration that has dropped it from the bottomless bag of projects to restructure the economy?
You should note that it has not been included in the GoCBB report as a source of forex inflows for 2014. We wonder why. After all US$270 million is nothing to scoff at or purposely omit from a set of imaginary fudged figures.
You should pay special attention to Adrian Loveridge’s pertinent comment. The problem with tourism in Bim is not one of recession in the source markets but its poor performance in offering and giving visitors value for money.
The opening line of the Governor’s statement says it all…
“compared with previous economic downturns….”
this follows from “compared to other countries” or “compared to previous years” or “compared to previous predictions.” We can’t seem to get a basic objective report, ever.
now he says today that
“Government is working closely with the IMF on the austerity measures” and that the “IMF has had an input” although insisting that there is no “structured IMF programme.”
This current state of affairs and level of communication is unbelievable.
@David or anyone
How much weeks did the Credit Suisse loan add on to the forex cover?
Just observing
Foreign Direct Investment
* reasons behind the recent sharp decline in foreign direct investment (USD 326m in 2012 to USD 74m in Jan-Sep 2013)
*plans and measures to improve foreign direct investment
@ Observing | January 15, 2014 at 12:37 PM |
“Government is working closely with the IMF on the austerity measures” and that the “IMF has had an input” although insisting that there is no “structured IMF programme.”
This is his euphemistic way of saying to the country you better prepare for major structural adjustment under an IMF managed austerity programme.
The miller has been saying this since the MoF’s statement of Friday 13th December 2013.
Despite the Governor’s protestation the decision-making in the Ministry of Finance has been taken over by the IMF technocrats hence the hastened and now bungled announcement to layoff thousands of workers. An announcement that had to be made before the IMF arrived back in Washington.
Let the same Governor deny that the preparation and ‘technical’ approval of the 2014-2015 Estimates are now under the direct purview of the IMF.
We doubt very much the governor would reveal such “sensitive” information about the Credit Suisse “shark” loan proceeds. That loan is simply delaying the inevitable by 3 months and saddling the country with more highly unserviceable debt.
BREAKING NEWS
HANGING TO BE RESUMED IN BARBADOS
When I first read the CBB Press Release, my immediate reaction was “How can CBB justify having this guy Bergsten, whose income is probably high six figures spend, six weeks as its guest – Sandy Lane? – when 3,000 public servants are about to be shown the door. Surely there must be more to the six week stay than just a sabbatical in the Gem of the Caribbean.
According to Meridian-Webster, Sabbatical is a period of time during which someone does not work at his or her regular job and is able to rest, travel, do research, etc.
Having read Triangle Bangle’s comment that “ This sabbatical thing is bullshit similar to the bullshit about print new money”, DD agrees that it is indeed bullshit.
A bit if Googling indicates that Dr. Bergsten, the recently retired founder of the Peterson Institute, is indeed one of the most learned authorities on global economic matters – particularly on the challenges and opportunities of China’s rise as a global superpower.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Fred_Bergsten
Fred Bergsten (born 1941) is an American economist, author, and political adviser. He has previously served as assistant for international economic affairs to Henry Kissinger within the National Security Council and as assistant secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He was director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, formerly the Institute for International Economics, from its founding in 1981 through 2012 and is now senior fellow and director emeritus. In addition to his academic work, he makes his opinions known to the policy making community and engages with the public with television appearances,[1] writing for influential periodicals such as Foreign Affairs magazine[2] and by writing numerous books.
See also:
Why would the CBB portray Dr Bergsten’s visit to Barbados as a sabbatical?
Why not be honest and simply say that Bergsten was invited by Government, or sent by IMF, to be an advisor or consultant to the inept PM and MOF to advise on how to sort out the financial and economic mess, including all the debt it has or plans to have to China to finance its deficits, that Barbados governments of both stripes have gotten itself into.
Let us all hope that Government takes his advice and executes.
Engaging Dr. Bergsten to advise or consult Government, may be the most intelligent decision taken by a Barbados Government in 20 years, if it executes the recommendations.
@JUST ASKING | January 15, 2014 at 1:06 PM |
That will never happen (again).
Who would be the hangman? The last one died.
Who would be first victim for the new gallows? What about making Lying a CAPITAL offence in Bim?
The we all know who would be first in the queue to the gallows.
We know you would go for Bulling as a capital offence, wouldn’t you JA? Or even for the innocent act of living and voting in St. John.
Would you be prepared to act as hangman or you want the miller to take up the job?
The miller is a Buddhists so, unlike you Judeo-Christians, killing is totally off the menu.
@Due Diligence,
Can you imagine a man of such learning in economics trying to engage Stinkliar and having a serious conversation? Do you think Stinkliar would be able to understand what the man would be saying?
Me thinks not! Lord help us.
Prodigal
We can hope and pray.
@ miller,
Let the same Governor deny that the preparation and ‘technical’ approval of the 2014-2015 Estimates are now under the direct purview of the IMF….
miller,
I wonder what the IMF are saying with all the pussy footing the government and the unions are doing re the layoffs. It does not seem as if the Black Friday doom and gloom is so important now! Or is this just about giving the unions a way out so that they can register that they had consultations with the government and that they tried to stop the layoffs?
No wonder the two buffoons can be pictured fist bumping to the delight and joy of Dr Byer Suckoo. Imagine that they are laughing at Barbadians!
@Ruffin
So we have slipped to position number 6. I remember when we were number one. What a shame.
Prodigal Son
I found deeply disturbing that everyone exiting the GOB/Unions negotiations was smiling, laughing and generally very cheerful.
I understand why Ester was smiling cause despite being a failure as a Minister MP and then at the polls she still managed to land on her back. Sorry feet.
I usually avoid attacking the GoCB because he has to sound positive or put a “positive spin” on economic figures making him sound like a Gov’t lackey but the lastest press conference this afternoon is just pure laughable. His “spin” now make him sound just plain ridiculous and his credibility shot. He tells us “we are not under an IMF programme but we are working with the IMF…..” Really Now !!!!!!!!. The Gov’t implements a program to cut 3500 from the public sector less than a week after the gov’t meets the IMF on a Article iV consultation. I suppose now he trying to tell us it was pure coincidence. I mean that is soooo much BULLSHIT he trying hard even to convince HIMSELF far less trying to fool Barbados what this “program” really is.
He also tells us there is new confidence in the Barbados economy. Really !!!! Less than 2 mths Moody’s downgraded Barbados not one but two rating points in one go and the outlook negative!!!! Where this new confidence come from!!! By smoking weed!!!! I tell ya even smoking a jungle full of weed will not instill confidence so fast !!!!!!
The Governor of the Central Bank stated words to the effect that a third of GDP is spent to pay salaries in the public sector and this is too much. When did this information become known to the Governor and the Central Bank is what BU wants to know. As far as we are aware this is a stat which has been known for some time. Why react to this position NOW and not five years ago?
I understand why Ester was smiling cause despite being a failure as a Minister MP and then at the polls she still managed to land on her back. Sorry feet.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Really !!!! Less than 2 mths Moody’s downgraded Barbados not one but two rating points in one go and the outlook negative!!!! Where this new confidence come from!!! By smoking weed!!!! I tell ya even smoking a jungle full of weed will not instill confidence so fast !!!!!!
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
David; Will seek info on the cost of salaries and other emoluments in the public sector along with simultaneous GDP figures. But I suspect that the resultant statistic is not very different now from what it was in 2007 and even earlier.
@Are-we-there-yet
Agree we have to check the numbers but we must factor that the economy has shrunk after 6 years of decline.
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